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Thun is the Swiss Champion 2023 of the National Women’s League. This is the first Championship title in the club’s history.
We changed our targets over the years from just participating to aiming to win each game and at least be in the final.
Alina Morgenegg (WK Thun)
Thun’s Women’s team has been around for years, mainly in the middle zone of the rankings. But the gradual growth was evident for every water polo enthusiast in Switzerland. The qualification to the finals was missing so far (Thun couldn’t advance against Basel or Horgen).
Season 2023 started with the win for the Swiss Cup in September 2022, where they beat a young formation of Basel in the final. This title was a clear signal that Thun is ready for more in the upcoming season.
The team of head coach Jochen Soder played an exceptional regular season finishing first and losing only against league rivals Basel in February.
Thun rotates around Swiss National Team goalkeeper Leah Friedmann, center forward Alina Morgenegg, playmaker Martina Stucki, lefthander Michelle Dubach and 16 years old center-back Anouk Soder.
The real force of the team is that the goals are evenly distributed among different players.
“We changed our targets over the years from just participating to aiming to win each game and at least be in the final,” commented Alina Morgenegg, who started playing water polo at 14 with SK Bern.
Through our higher goals, we got a higher motivation and were able to achieve more.
Alina Morgenegg (WK Thun)
The playoff semifinals also went as expected, with clear wins over Winterthur and preparing to face Basel again in the finals.
But the beauty of our sport and the playoffs is that new matches do not have a memory, and every game starts 0 to 0. Tristar was able to surprise Basel by winning the first game of the semifinals and confirmed their form, winning the second game in Basel 17 to 14, led by an exceptional Zsofia Toth with impressive statistics as 5.35 goals per game in the regular season and 4 in the playoffs.
Alina Morgenegg: “Through our higher goals, we got a higher motivation and also did some mental coaching sessions as a team.”
Despite playing with an unexpected opponent, Thun remained focused and established themselves as Swiss Champion 2023, winning clearly over Tristar in two games of the best-of-three series.
Basel won the bronze medal in the 3rd place final against Winterthur.
