Arnold Gerschwiler

Arnold Gerschwiler

Sjoukje Dijkstra and Arnold Gerschwiler (1963)
Personal information
Born (1914-05-28)28 May 1914
Arbon, Switzerland
Died 22 August 2003(2003-08-22) (aged 89)
Cheam, Surrey, United Kingdom

Arnold Gerschwiler, OBE (28 May 1914 — 22 August 2003) was a Swiss figure skating coach.

Personal life

Gerschwiler was born in Arbon, Switzerland. He was the half-brother of Jacques Gerschwiler and the uncle of Hans Gerschwiler.[1] At the encouragement of Jacques, he moved to London, England.[2] He married Violet Blundell in August 1941.[1] They had two daughters, Stella and Claire, two grandsons and two granddaughters.

Gerschwiler lived in Ailsa Road, St Margarets, Twickenham for 53 years.[2] He died on 22 August 2003 at St Anthony's Hospital, Cheam[2] at the age of 89.[3]

Career

Gerschwiler joined the staff of the Richmond Ice Rink in 1937.[2] He was head coach there from 1938, and served as director in 1964[2] until the facility was demolished in 1992. He coached the Czech skater Alena Vrzanova (Aja Zanova),[2] world champion in 1949 and 1950, as well as his own nephew Hans Gerschwiler,[2] the 1948 Olympic silver medallist.

He also coached the British skaters John Curry, 1976 Olympic and world champion, and Valda Osborn,[2] British champion in 1952 and 1953 and European champion in 1953. Other European top skaters he coached included Ladislav Čáp, Helmut Seibt, Michael Booker,[1] Daphne Walker,[2] Hanna Eigel, Sjoukje Dijkstra,[3] Patricia Dodd,[1] and Joan Haanappel.

Gerschwiler was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1997.[2][3] He and his brother Jacques were inducted into the Professional Skaters Association's Coaches Hall of Fame in 2004.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Bird, Dennis L. (6 September 2003). "Arnold Gerschwiler: Inspirational ice-skating coach". Independent.co.uk.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Adlam, James (12 September 2003). "A legendary figure in the world of ice skating". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 "Arnold Gerschwiler: Ice-skating coach who spent 60 years training Olympic competitors and film stars at Richmond Ice Rink". The Times. 17 September 2003. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  4. ↑ "1st January 2004: Arnold Gerschwiler". PSA coaches hall of fame. Professional Skaters Association. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
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