From April 18 to 23, 18 teenagers flashed their Bunsen burners at ETH Zurich. The champions of the Swiss Chemistry Olympiad had competed against originally more than 400 participants. During the one-week national finals, they challenged each other for the podium places. The winners of the four gold medals will take part in the International Chemistry Olympiad in July:
- Silas Waldvogel, Kantonsschule Schaffhausen (SH)
- Yannik Straumann, Berufsbildungszentrum Baselland (BL)
- Cédric Baerlocher Aguilar, Gymnasium Burgdorf (BE)
- Thomas Zaugg, Gymnasium Kirchenfeld (BE)
In addition, four silver and three bronze medals were given.
DE/AT/CH-Triangle of countries instead of China
In July, the next challenge awaits the four winners: the International Chemistry Olympiad. This year's host country, China, is organizing the major event online due to the COVID pandemic. Instead of traveling to Tianjin, the Swiss team will meet at Lake Constance to take part in the competition together with their German and Austrian colleagues. Silas thinks it's a pity that the International Olympiad is going online for the third time in a row, but at the same time it's justified. He is looking forward to improving his skills even more, but is not putting any pressure on himself to win another medal. "I'm happy with my performance so far," he says, "anything beyond that is a bonus!". Incidentally, 2023 will be the first time Switzerland hosts the International Chemistry Olympiad.
Website of the Swiss Chemistry Olympiads: https://chemistry.olympiad.ch/de/
David Spichiger, SCS
27.04.2022