Isabelle Forrer Joins Swiss Countrymate in Announcing Retirement

Isabelle Forrer is the second Swiss star of beach volleyball to announce her retirement since the 2016 season ended less than a week ago at the World Tour Finals in Toronto.

The 34-year old Forrer joins her 31-year old countrymate Nadine Zumkehr on a ride into the sunset after the former’s announcement on Friday evening.

Forrer made the announcement in both German and English on her Instagram account, saying that “you should leave the party when they’re playing the best sound.”

Man soll aufhören, wenn es am schönsten ist… und ich kann mit Stolz und auch mit etwas Wehmut auf eine wundervolle Zeit zurückschauen. Ich durfte in den letzten Wochen mit Anouk meinen Traum von Olympia leben, nochmals Schweizermeisterin werden und beim World Tour Final Bronze gewinnen. Einen schöneren Abschluss meiner Karriere hätte ich mir nicht vorstellen können. An dieser Stelle bedanke ich mich ganz herzlich bei meinem Umfeld und euch treuen Fans. Ich bin überzeugt, ohne euch hätte es nur halb so viel Spass gemacht 🙂 Ich wünsche euch allen eine schöne Off- Season und bis im nächsten Jahr irgendwo neben dem Beachfeld! Eure Isa ——————————————— You should leave the party when they're playing the best sound… It is with a heavy heart, but also with a lot of pride that I can look back at an amazing ride. Especially in the last couple of weeks I was fortunate to live the Olympic dream with Anouk, to win another Swiss Championship and to step on the podium at the World Tour Finals in Toronto! I guess there is really no better moment to leave on a high note. I want to thank everybody helping and supporting me all my career and to my fans! Without you it wouldn't have been such a fun journey 😉 I wish you all a relaxing off- season and we'll meet again off court! Byebye Isa

A photo posted by Isabelle Forrer (@isabelleforrer) on Sep 23, 2016 at 12:36am PDT

Forrer had a dream final season on the sand, winning the Swiss Championship with her partner Anouk Vergé-Dépré, qualifying for her first Olympic Games in Rio, and then taking a bronze medal at the World Tour Finals to end the season – losing out on a chance at the gold medal game with a semi-final loss to the aforementioned Zumkehr and partner Joana Heidrich.

Forrer finishes her career with $254,850 in international winnings, most of which has come in the last few years since hooking up with Verge-Depre.

Both of the retired players’ partners (Heidrich and Anouk Vergé-Dépré) are 24 years old, and while neither player has announced who their future partners will be, they are the remaining pactive halves of the country’s two best beach pairs, giving rise to natural questions about a future possible connection.