For Maximilian Schwarz it was a varied year in every respect.
The Hohenpeißenberger set the course not only in terms of sport, but also professionally.
Hohenpeißenberg
- Maximilian Schwarz is growing up.
On the one hand this can be determined by age, in December he will be 19. On the other hand, with a look at the résumé.
He passed his Abitur in 2021, which is the most important thing in view of over 50 days of absence in the previous winter.
Then he got one of the coveted positions at customs.
This means that he can take part in the traditional customs ski competitions, which is of course not the main prize of this job, but a nice treat.
Alpine skiing: close to his job at customs, black can fully concentrate on his sporting career
In a way, the agency finances his career as a professional skier, that's the deal.
Most of the greats in the winter sports scene benefit from this funding system.
20 athletes applied for the selection process.
Only a fifth of them, that is four, got a place.
"For me, customs was the best case," says the Hohenpeissenberger.
Now he can concentrate completely on skiing and ignore the money.
Financial security is everything in this sport.
The athletes only notice this when their funding is cut and they suddenly have to pay for every ski and suit themselves.
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Maximilian Schwarz will start in the European Cup in the future.
© DSV
Alpine skiing: Maximilian Schwarz's main goal is the Junior World Championships in Canada
Last week the new season began for Maximilian Schwarz in Finland. It is his second with the men, so he is no longer a newly hatched chick, but also by no means a fully grown rooster. He has reached a stage where performance is becoming increasingly important. Season one in league three, the FIS races, was something to try out and get used to. Now the coaches told him in the summer that he should drive almost every giant slalom in the European Cup, Second League. "I hope that will happen that way," says the 18-year-old. Based on his goals, you can already see the development he has taken. Schwarz wants to consolidate himself in the European Cup, in other words: regularly end up in the points of the top 30. He's also planning to take part in the Junior World Championship in Canada.Germany is entitled to four places. “I definitely want to be there. Even when things get tough. The others don't sleep, "says Schwarz.
Alpine skiing: from everything skier to giant slalom specialist
Last summer there was even more shift than just everyday school and professional life. The everything driver has actually specialized - or rather: has specialized. At the German Ski Association they see him as a giant slalom driver. In Saas-Fee (Switzerland) the bosses let him train with the World Cup team. That was a key experience in a positive sense. Sometimes he was only eight or nine tenths behind Germany's elite around Stefan Luitz in a 40-second run - even if these comparisons always lag a bit, because every run is handled under different conditions. The mentality absorbed and impressed him. Foolish games banish the best from their training program. "You don't really dare to say anything, you have a lot of respect," says Schwarz.
Alpine skiing: Maximilian Schwarz has worked a lot on his basic endurance
He has already completed 40 days of snow in the warm months. These numbers are a bit like the number of miles you can collect from airlines. There is a reward for particularly loyal pilots: in skiing, hard work pays off in results. Whereby Maximilian Schwarz did not make the biggest jump on skis, but physically. The experts have found out that he lacks basic endurance and that he is therefore often unable to use his power in races as he would like. His supervisor in Garmisch-Partenkirchen planned one unit per week. Maximilian Schwarz increased this workload independently. He went running, hiking, biking, in the weight room. He read the result in the final strength tests: top marks in every sub-discipline.Ingredients and recipe stand for a successful winter, which in the best case scenario ends with another jump: with a place in the B-team of the German Ski Association.