Stefanie Schwaiger

portrait
Stefanie Schwaiger

Stefanie Schwaiger (2014)
birthday	August 7, 1986
place of birth	Allentsteig, Austria
size	1.82 m
Partner	2001–2014 Doris Schwaiger 2014–2016 Barbara Hansel 2016–2017 Katharina Schützenhöfer
World ranking	Item 27
successes
2006 - 3rd place U23 European Championship 2008 - Olympic Fifth 2009 - World Championship Fifth 2012 - Olympic Fifth 2012 - Austrian Champion 2013 - World Championship Fifth 2013 - European Champion 2017 - Austrian Champion
(As of December 21, 2017)

Stefanie Schwaiger (born August 7, 1986 in Allentsteig , Austria ) is a former Austrian beach volleyball player. Together with her sister and partner Doris Schwaiger , she became European and Austrian champions .

Career

Stefanie (left) and Doris Schwaiger (Vienna 2008)

Stefanie Schwaiger has formed a duo with her older sister Doris since 2001. In 2002 the Schwaiger sisters took part in the U18 World Cup and, for the first time, in the U20 European Championship. After winning an A1 Masters in 2003, they played in a Grand Slam for the first time the following year and finished 17th in Klagenfurt . In 2005 they took part in the U21 World Cup and finished ninth in the world series tournament in Montreal . The greatest successes in 2006 were third place at the U23 European Championship and seventh place at the World Tour appearances in Modena and Warsaw . In 2008 the Schwaiger sisters qualified for the Olympic Games in Beijing , where they reached the quarter-finals. They were able to repeat this success at the World Championships next year. Her best result at the FIVB World Tour so far was winning the silver medal at the tournament in Kristiansand . In 2009 both sisters joined the armed forces , where they worked as competitive athletes after completing their basic training.

2010

At the Grand Slam in Rome , the Schwaiger sisters reached the quarter-finals for the first time of the season, together with the Germans Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig , the Austrians finished fifth at the following Seoul Open . In Marseille they were able to reach a final for the second time, but that they lost against the Brazilians Antonelli and Talita. Both at the subsequent Grand Slam in Klagenfurt and at the following tournament in Stare Jabłonki , Doris and Stefanie Schwaiger finished in fifth place.

2011

After finishing ninth in the Grand Slam in Beijing, the sisters took part in the World Cup in Rome . There they had to admit defeat to the Talita / Antonelli after a second place in the preliminary round group and a win against the Swiss Kuhn / Zumkehr in the round of 16 . In August they played at the European Championships in Kristiansand , where they were also eliminated in the round of 16 against the Czechs Klapalová / Háječková .

2012

The new season began for the Schwaigers in China, where they finished ninth in the Sanya Open and fifth in the Grand Slam in Shanghai . The European Championship in The Hague ended for the duo in the first knockout round, in which there was a 1: 2 defeat against the Belgians Mouha / Gielen . Nevertheless, the sisters qualified with their position in the world rankings for the Olympic Games in London . There they reached the last sixteen via the “lucky loser” round of the group third, which they won in three sets against the Russians Wassina / Wosakowa . After the quarter-final defeat against Zhang Xi / Xue Chen from China, they finished the tournament in shared fifth place.

2013

The FIVB World Tour 2013 started with the satellite tournament in Antalya, where they failed in the quarterfinals against Liliana / Baquerizo and finished ninth. The Schwaigers also took ninth place at the first tournament of the season on Chinese soil, the Fuzhou Open, after losing to the Brazilians Antonelli / Ágatha in the quarter-finals . Afterwards, at the first Grand Slam tournament in Shanghai in 2013, they were able to defeat Ludwig / Walkenhorst and van Gestel / Meppelink , among others , but only had to admit defeat to the Brazilians Talita / Lima and took second place. This was followed by the first tournament of the season in South America, the Corrientes Grand Slam in Argentina, which was less successful with an elimination in the group stage.

Back in Europe, the sisters won the final against the Swiss Zumkehr / Heidrich at the Masters tournament in Baden in three sets and won their first international title. At the Grand Slam tournament in The Hague, after a defeat against Talita / Lima from Brazil, as well as at the subsequent Grand Slam in Rome, they finished ninth. Afterwards it went to Stare Jablonki to the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships , where the duo managed to reach fifth place. Here it defeated the compatriots Hansel / Schützenhöfer , before it failed in the quarterfinals to Ross / Pavlik from the USA. At the Gstaad Grand Slam , the sisters came ninth, they were defeated by the Germans Ludwig / Walkenhorst in the second round.

In Klagenfurt reached Stefanie Schwaiger, together with her sister Doris, at the 2013 European Beach Volleyball Championships the European title . An opening defeat in the pool phase was followed by two wins and promotion to the top of the group. After a clear success over the German Borger / Kiesling in the round of 16, the sisters advanced to the semi-finals in a hard-fought game against the Russians Chomjakowa / Ukulowa . In the semifinals, the duo Ludwig / Walkenhorst waited , which were clearly defeated. Finally, in the final against the Spaniards Liliana / Baquerizo , they won in three sets.

2014

At the beginning of the season Doris Schwaiger suffered from a thigh injury, which is why the sisters had to cancel the tournaments in China.

On May 30, 2014 Doris Schwaiger announced surprisingly that she would end her career as a beach volleyball player after the upcoming home tournament in Baden . At the last joint appearance with sister Stefanie, there was a new edition of the EM final from the previous year. The sisters also won the Baden final against the Spaniards Liliana / Baquerizo (number 1 in the tournament) and Doris Schwaiger said goodbye to professional sport with a tournament victory.

Stefanie Schwaiger's new partner was Barbara Hansel from July 2014 .

2016

Barbara Hansel ended her career in August 2016. Stefanie Schwaiger's new partner was Katharina Schützenhöfer from October 2016 .

2017

Schwaiger / Schützenhöfer finished fifth on the 2017 World Tour in Xiamen and finished ninth at the CEV Masters in Baden. For the world championship in Vienna they got one of the two starting places of the host nation and reached the main round. At the end of August, Schwaiger was again Austrian champion alongside Teresa Strauss . In December Stefanie Schwaiger announced her retirement from competitive sports.