Background
Gerschwiler was born in Arbon, Switzerland.
Gerschwiler was born in Arbon, Switzerland.
Arnold Gerschwiler joined the staff of the Richmond Ice Rink in 1937. He was head coach there from 1938, and served as director in 1964 until the facility was demolished in 1992. Other European top skaters he coached included Vladislav Čáp, Helmut Seibt, Michael Booker, Daphne Walker, Hanna Eigel, Sjoukje Dijkstra, Patricia Dodd, and Joan Haanappel.
Gerschwiler was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1997.
He coached the Czechoslovakian skater Alena Vrzanova (Aja Zanova), world champion in 1949 and 1950, as well as his own nephew Hans Gerschwiler, the 1948 Olympic silver medallist. He also coached the British skaters John Curry, 1976 Olympic and world champion, and Valda Osborn, British champion in 1952 and 1953 and European champion in 1953.
