The para dressage selection committee of the Swiss Equestrian Federation has decided the squads for 2025.
The European Championships in Ermelo (NED) will be the highlight of next season for para-dressage. Squad manager Fabian Gieling commented: “Our experienced athlete Nicole Geiger was able to further develop her young horse Donar Weltino in 2024 and has shown with her participation in the Paralympics that this horse is ready for championships. She has her sights firmly set on the European Championships in 2025."
Fabian continued, "however, we were also able to develop two riders for the prospective squad in 2024. Both are highly motivated and want to make the jump into CPEDI3* level next year in order to recommend themselves for future championships. We will support these riders, as well as the participants in the development program, on their way next year. The regular squad training introduced this year has proved very successful and will be continued in 2025 under the direction of Patricia Schärli.”
One of the discipline's long-term goals remains to be able to send a Swiss team to a championship in the future. However, in order to be able to field a team, athletes from lower levels are also required. To this end, the discipline will continue to support ambitious para-dressage riders as part of a support program and hopes to make further progress with an inclusion project supported by Swiss Olympic.
Swiss Squad listed for 2025 are:
Elite squad
- Nicole Geiger - Grade V
Perspective squad
- Simone Keller - Grade IV
- Mirjam Pollara - Grade IV (NEW)
Photo © Dirk Caremans