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 And indeed she is, Birgit Schweigert,
one of the top scorers of Germany’s national
team for many years already, currently lives and studies
in London and on the way to her early-morning workout
on Sundays at the Leatherhead and Dorking Gymnastics
Club outside London she is sometimes accompanied by
her boyfriend who frequently comes to visit from Germany
and her brother who also studies in London. Usually
seeming quiet and focused on her job at competitions
Birigit now showed to be an open-minded and cheerful
person when gymworld met her on a sunny spring day
in the gym in Leatherhead and then chatted for a while
with her in one of the many London coffee shops
 After the German team failed to qualify
for the Olympics at the Worlds’ 99 and the German
National Olympic Committee then also dediced not to
send any individual gymnasts to Sydney Birgit’s
original intention was to quit and to look for other
interesting things to do in life. – And going
abroad to spend a year in a boarding school in England
certainly was an interesting thing to do, especially
when it offers in addition to a good general education
also a very creative choice of subjects like e.g.
acting which especially drew Birgit’s attention.
However, there was one thing which came in between
– the fact that in gymnastics still everything
was working very well for her and that she still enjoyed
it a lot! The solution was clear to see – a
good gymnastics club near the boarding school needed
to be found.
Birgit herself still was busy with school and gymnastics
in Germany so father and brother jumped in and travelled
through London and surroundings in order to visit
various gym clubs. Their attention fell on the Leatherhead
& Dorking Gymnastics Club where already for a
few years Vladimir Aksenov, coach of former Sovjet
World Champion Olga Mostepanova, has been working
as head coach. Birgit visited the gym herself and
decided that it was a good place to spend the next
years on the way to a second try for the Olympics.
Said and done, she then moved out of her parents house
and went to England on the way to a new adventorous
live...!
 Meanwhile time has passed, A-levels in
the Hurtwood House were succesfully passed and Birgit
decided to change the quiet country life of Dorking
into a flat in London which she shares whith a friend
from school. She has settled in well in the London
life style and speaks the language nearly perfectly.
After a busy university and gymnastics day she likes
to relax with friends in one of the nice cafes of
which numerous can be found in her neighbourhood.
The dream of an acting career is still in her mind
but for the moment gymnastics and the dream of the
Olympics are more important! As it wouldn’t
have been possible to combine acting school with her
daily gymnastics workout she decided to accept the
offer to study at the University College London and
chose the subjects economics and philosophy. –
Ah, well, this caused a short moment of astonishment
at the writer of this article – how comes that
someone who had in mind to go to acting school now
choses the subject combination of economics and philosophy???
– “Well, I don’t really know.
 The combination seemed interesting to
me. Concerning philosophy I think it is interesting
that it is open for all kind of opinions from everyone,
you only have to give a reason for your opinion and
then it is accepted – I really like that idea.
And furthermore, acting school would only take 2 years,
I might still do that later!“ For now, a regular
train ride between the gym in Leatherhead and the
university in London has become Birgit’s daily
routine. “I got used to that. In the early mornings
it is actually quite good, I take a coffee on the
train and use the time to wake-up! Later in the mornings
and then in the afternoons and evenings I try to read
stuff for my studies.“ Birgit enjoys workout
in Leatherhead but says that she also stays in close
contact with Shanna Poljakowa , her coach in Cologne.
She also attends as many training camps as she can
of the German national team with which she wants to
master the qualification for the Olympics.
The moment of truth for Birgit and the rest of the
German team is there this summer in Anaheim. But whatever
the outcome will be, the foundation for a successful
life also after her gymnastics career is set for Birgit.
She might not be the first former elite gymnast trying
for an acting carreer but most likely the first one
having a degree in economics and philosophy also!
So watch out what you will hear from her in future...
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