Benoît François Dominique Schwarz-van Berkel ( Schwarz; born 19 August 1991) is a Swiss curler. He currently throws fourth stones for skip

Yannick Schwaller Yannick Schwaller (born 31 March 1995 in Solothurn) is a Swiss curler from Recherswil. He currently skips his own team out of Geneva. Career Juniors Schwaller skipped the Swiss junior men's team at three straight World Junior Curling Champi ...

. He is a World Junior Champion, won a gold medal with the Swiss team at the

2013 European Curling Championships The 2013 European Curling Championships were held from November 22 to 30 at the Sørmarka Arena in Stavanger, Norway. Norway last hosted the European Curling Championships in 1990. The Group C competitions were held in October at the Tårnby Cu ...

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

, and has also won a

Grand Slam of Curling The Grand Slam of Curling (formerly branded as the Pinty's Grand Slam of Curling for sponsorship reasons) is a series of curling bonspiels that were formerly part of the annual World Curling Tour. Grand Slam events offer a purse of at least Ca ...

title at the 2018 Canadian Open. Schwarz-van Berkel has also earned multiple medals at both the European Curling Championship and World Men's Curling Championship, and was part of the bronze medal winning Swiss team at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

Career

Juniors

Schwarz-van Berkel began his international career representing Switzerland at the

2010 World Junior Curling Championships The 2010 World Junior Curling Championships were held from March 5 to 14 at the Waldhaus Arena in Flims, Switzerland. Men Teams Round-robin standings ''Final round-robin standings'' Round-robin results Draw 1 ''Saturday, March 6, 14:00 ...

, as the fourth rock thrower on a team skipped by

Peter de Cruz Peter Vincent de Cruz (born 4 January 1990) is a Swiss curler. He is an Olympic bronze medallist for Switzerland, having skipped his Swiss rink to a third place finish at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. While de Cruz is the skip of his ...

. At Schwarz-van Berkel's first international event, the team went 7–2 in the round robin, and would go on to win the championship, beating Scotland's Ally Fraser 7–6 in the final. Schwarz-van Berkel would return to the 2011 World Junior Curling Championships with de Cruz, where the team would fail to defend their title, losing 6–5 to Sweden's

Oskar Eriksson Oskar Ingemar Eriksson (born 29 May 1991) is a Swedish curler from Karlstad. He currently plays third for the Niklas Edin rink. He is the first curler in history to win four Olympic medals – gold, silver, and two bronze – and the first to ...

in the final. Schwarz-van Berkel would make his final World Junior appearance as an alternate for the

Dominik Märki Dominik Märki (born 9 October 1990) is a Swiss-American curler, currently living in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He currently plays third on Team Jason Smith. He competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), official ...

rink in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, where the team would finish 5–4, finishing 6th and failing to qualify for the playoffs.

Men's

Alternate for Team Michel (2011–2014)

Schwarz-van Berkel would make his international men's debut at the

2011 European Curling Championships The 2011 Le Gruyère European Curling Championships were held in Moscow, Russia from December 2 to 10.Sven Michel's rink. At the European's, the Swiss team finished 6th with a 5–4 record. Schwarz-van Berkel would again be the alternate for Michel's rink at the 2013 European Curling Championship, where he would win his first European Championship, winning against Norway's

Thomas Ulsrud Thomas Ulsrud (21 October 1971 – 24 May 2022) was a Norwegian curler from Oslo. He won a silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics, one World Curling Championship, two European Curling Championships, and fourteen Norwegian titles ( Norwegian M ...

8–6 in the final. As the alternate for the Michel rink, he would represent Switzerland at the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

, where the team went 3–6 in the round robin, finishing 8th.

Team de Cruz (2014–2022)

Schwarz-van Berkel would join the

rink as their fourth rock thrower starting in 2014, curling alongside

and

Valentin Tanner Valentin Igor Fédéric Tanner (born 2 October 1992) is a Swiss curler. He currently plays lead for the Peter de Cruz team from Geneva. Career Tanner is the long-time lead for de Cruz. The team played in two World Junior Curling Championship ...

. They would represent Switzerland at the

2014 World Men's Curling Championship The 2014 World Men's Curling Championship was held from March 29 to April 6 at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China. Norway's Thomas Ulsrud defeated Sweden's Oskar Eriksson in the final with a score of 8–3, securing his first world titl ...

, where the team finished 3rd, beating Canada's

Kevin Koe Kevin Koe ( ; born January 11, 1975) is a Canadian curling, curler. Koe is a two-time World champion and four-time Canadian champion. He was the skip (curling), skip of the Canadian men's team at the Curling at the 2018 Winter Olympics - Men's to ...

7–5 in the bronze medal game. After one year together, Märki and de Cruz rink would split, and

Claudio Pätz Claudio Pätz (born 1 July 1987) is a Swiss curler from Uster. He won gold medal with the Swiss team at the 2013 European Curling Championships in Stavanger and a bronze medal at the 2014 World Men's Curling Championship as the alternate for t ...

would replace Mäki at third. The de Cruz rink would represent Switzerland at the 2015 European Curling Championships, where the team would finish second, losing to Sweden's

Niklas Edin Johan Niklas Edin (born 6 July 1985) is a Swedish curler. He holds several sport distinctions. He is the first and the only skip in World Curling Federation (WCF) history to win three Olympic medals – gold (2022), silver (2018), and bronze ( ...

7–6 in the final. de Cruz would be unable to defend their Swiss Men's National Championship title in 2015, losing to eventual champions Marc Pfister in the semifinals. Team de Cruz would be chosen by Swiss Curling to represent Switzerland at the 2016 European Curling Championship, where they would win bronze, beating Russia's Alexey Timofeev 8–6 in the bronze medal game. de Cruz would finally win the 2017 Switzerland Men's Curling Championship against Felix Attinger, qualifying them to represent Switzerland at the 2017 World Men's Curling Championship. At the 2017 World Championships, de Cruz would go 8–3 in round robin play, and win a bronze medal, beating

John Shuster John “Shoostie” Shuster ( ; born November 3, 1982) is an American curler who lives in Superior, Wisconsin. He led Team USA to gold at the 2018 Winter Olympics, the first American team to ever win gold in curling. He also won a bronze medal a ...

from the United States 7–5 in the bronze medal game. de Cruz would again be chosen to represent Switzerland at the

2017 European Curling Championships The 2017 European Curling Championships was held from November 17 to 25 in St Gallen, Switzerland. The Group C competitions was held in May in Andorra. At the conclusion of the championships, the top eight women's teams will go to the 2018 Ford ...

on home soil in St. Gallen. de Cruz would again win bronze at the Europeans, this time beating Norway's Ulsrud 6–5 in the bronze medal game. de Cruz would also win their first

title, winning the 2018 Meridian Canadian Open 4–3 against Edin in the final. Shortly after winning their first Grand Slam, de Cruz would also represent Switzerland at the

. At the 2018 Olympics, the de Cruz team had a strong showing, where they won an Olympic bronze medal, beating Canada's Koe 7–5 in the bronze medal game. At the beginning of the 2018–19 season, Pätz and the de Cruz rink announced they would be parting ways, with long-time national rival Sven Michel joining the team and throwing third rocks. At the

2018 European Curling Championships The 2018 Le Gruyère AOP European Curling Championships were held from November 16 to 24 in Tallinn, Estonia. The C Division competitions were held in April in Copenhagen, Denmark. The top seven men's teams will qualify for the 2019 World Men's C ...

, the new de Cruz team would finish 6th, completing the round robin with a 5–4 record. The new de Cruz team would also go on to beat

in the final of the 2019 Swiss Men's Curling Championship, qualifying de Cruz to represent Switzerland at the

2019 World Men's Curling Championship The 2019 World Men's Curling Championship (branded as the 2019 Pioneer Hi-Bred World Men's Curling Championship for sponsorship reasons) was held from March 30 to April 7 at the ENMAX Centre in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. Qualification The follo ...

. At the 2019 World Championship, they had a strong showing, winning bronze after beating Japan's Yuta Matsumura 8–4 in the bronze medal game. After the World Championships were cancelled in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the de Cruz rink would return to represent Switzerland at the

2021 World Men's Curling Championship The 2021 World Curling Championships, World Men's Curling Championship (branded as the 2021 Balkrishna Industries, BKT Tires & OK Tire World Men's Curling Championship for sponsorship reasons) was held from April 2 to 11 at the Markin MacPhail Ce ...

, once again winning a bronze medal, beating RCF's

Sergey Glukhov Sergey Andreevich Glukhov (; born 7 January 1993) is a Russian curler from Chelyabinsk, currently residing in Sochi.2019 World Men's Curling Championship Media Guide: Team Russia Career Glukhov has been to two World Junior Curling Championship ...

6–5 in the bronze medal game. Team de Cruz would compete at the

2021 European Curling Championships The 2021 European Curling Championships were held in September and November 2021, to qualify European curling teams for the 2022 World Curling Championships and World Qualification Event. The A and B division competitions were held from November ...

, where they would finish 5th, finishing round robin play with a 5–4 record. de Cruz would also win the 2021 Swiss Olympic curling trials and represent Switzerland at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...

, Schwarz-van Berkel's third Olympics. At the 2022 Olympics, the Swiss would finish in 7th place with a 4–5 record.

Team Schwaller (2022–Present)

In April 2022, it was announced that Schwarz-van Berkel and Michel would be joining a new team skipped by

and Pablo Lachat for the 2022–23 season. Schwaller would skip the team but throw third rocks with Schwarz-van Berkel throwing fourth rocks, Michel playing second, and Lachat at lead. The new Schwaller rink would represent Switzerland at the 2022 European Curling Championships, where they would go 8–1 in the round robin, but lose to Scotland's Bruce Mouat 5–4 in the final, winning the silver medal. Schwaller would go on to represent Switzerland at the 2023 World Men's Curling Championship, where they would win a bronze medal, beating Italy's

Joël Retornaz Joël Thierry Retornaz (born 30 September 1983 in Chêne-Bougeries, Genève, Switzerland) is an Italian curler from Cembra. He was the skip of the Italian men's Olympic curling team in 2006, 2018, and 2022. Retornaz gained sudden renown in It ...

11–3 in the bronze medal game. Schwaller would again represent Switzerland at the 2023 European Curling Championships, once again winning a bronze medal over Italy's Retornaz, this time by a score of 8–4 in the bronze medal game. At the

2024 World Men's Curling Championship The 2024 World Men's Curling Championship (65th) (branded as the 2024 LGT World Men's Curling Championship for sponsorship reasons) was held from March 30 to April 7 at the KSS Sports Complex in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. This was the first ti ...

, the Swiss team would finish a disappointing 7th, going 6–6 in round robin play. However, Schwaller would have a strong season on the

tour, finishing in the semifinals of both the 2023 National and 2023 Masters. Schwaller would again have a strong start to the

2024–25 curling season The 2024–25 curling season began in May 2024 and ended in May 2025. World Curling Federation events Source: Championships Qualification events Other events Curling Canada events Source: Championships Invitationals Provincial ...

. At the Grand Slam events, Schwaller would finish in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Tour Challenge and semifinalists at the 2024 Canadian Open. At the

2024 European Curling Championships The 2024 Le Gruyère AOP European Curling Championships qualify European curling teams for the 2025 World Curling Championships. The A and B division competitions were held from November 16 to 23, with the A division being held at the Kisakallio ...

, the team would finish 4th, losing to Norway's Magnus Ramsfjell in the bronze medal game. The Schwaller rink would return to the

2025 World Men's Curling Championship The 2025 World Curling Championships, World Men's Curling Championship (66th) (branded as the 2025 Balkrishna Industries, BKT Tires World Men's Curling Championship for sponsorship reasons) was held from March 29 to April 6 at Temple Gardens Cent ...

, where they would go 9–3 in the round robin, but lose in the final to Scotland's Mouat 5–4, finishing in second and winning the silver medal.

Personal life

Schwarz-van Berkel is married to Swiss swimmer, Martina van Berkel, and is a former business administration student. He currently resides in

Bülach Bülach () is a historic town and a municipality in Switzerland in the canton of Zürich. It is the administrative capital of Bülach district. It is situated in the Glatt Valley (German: ''Glattal'') to the east of the small river Glatt and ab ...

References

External links

*
Benoît Schwarz
at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics (archived)
Benoît Schwarz-van Berkel
at the

Swiss Olympic Association The Swiss Olympic Association is the National Olympic Committee and the umbrella organisation for organised Swiss sport under private law. It has 104 members (81 national sports federations and 23 partner organisations), to which some two millio ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwarz-van Berkel, Benoit 1991 births Living people Swiss male curlers European curling champions Continental Cup of Curling participants Olympic curlers for Switzerland Olympic bronze medalists for Switzerland Olympic medalists in curling Curlers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Curlers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Curlers at the 2022 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Geneva Curlers from Zurich 21st-century Swiss sportsmen Sportspeople from Bülach