In the 1970s and 80s, an awareness of women skateboarding outside of the U.S. was rarely acknowledged or tracked in mainstream skateboarding magazines, but Corina “GoGo” Spreiter of Switzerland was hard to miss!
In a report on the skate scene in Europe, a photo of Corina practising slalom in Lake Geneva appears in the November 1979 issue of Skateboarder, as Spreiter was part of the Swiss Landsurfer’s Club.
Photos: James Cassimus, Marco Contati
Corina’s love of freestyle skateboarding was evident as she soon began to dominate in this style, and she often competed against the guys performing super technical tricks like a Godzilla flip and various ollie grabs and spins.
Photo: Eurocana Summer Camp in Sweden, 1982. Corina has a braid and is seated between Steve Caballero and Mike McGill.
In the February 1984 issue of TransWorld magazine there was a letter printed by Corina desperate for information because her parents were planning to live in South Africa, and she was hoping someone could provide information about the skate scene there, although it sounds like the move was temporary.
In Münster, Germany at the 1986 Münster Monster Mastership, Corina placed 9th out of 25 guys in the Pro freestyle category (noted in the December 1986 issue of TransWorld). In 1987, Corina would take 8th out of 22 men, and 11th out of 20 men in 1988, at the same contest, but in the amateur division.
In a report in the January 1987 Thrasher on the September 1986 European Championships in Warrington, England, the article noted that “Gogo Spreiter (Swiss), undoubtedly the best female skater in the world, got 8th place. I think she deserved better.”
At age 23, Corina made her way to North America in 1986, where she competed at the Transworld Championships in Vancouver, BC at Expo ’86. She won the women’s amateur Freestyle contest ahead of Sue Hazel, April Hoffman, Sophie Bourgeois, Michelle Sanderson and Stephanie Person.
Photos: awards ceremony for Expo ’86. Corina is seated front right with the crew of female competitors.
Footage of Corina’s performance is found within the Transworld video called “Radical Moves” (1986, dir. Larry Dean). The awkward and toxic commentary by Kim Blackett, with degrading banter directed towards the female participants, was sadly a reflection of the times that persisted.
In response to Corina’s performance, Blackett stated, “In warm-ups, GoGo was wearing her old skate shirts that she cut up. They barely covered the essentials. She said she didn’t do it to be sexy, it was hot in her country, and it was the only way she could get a tan like that. They were pretty interesting – it made it even more fun to watch.” Blackett’s comments implied that female skaters were a sideshow for the benefit of a male-dominated audience alone, where their appearance was more important than their performance. Meanwhile, in the men’s competitions their outfits, including crotch-clutching short-shorts go unacknowledged.
At least, in the report on the event from the February 1987 issue of TransWorld the description of her performance was positive. “Gogo Spreiter of Switzerland skated with as much power as most of the men and totally dominated the women’s amateur freestyle event. The consistency of her footwork and difficulty of her tricks, including nose wheelie space walks, nose-spins, and rail-to-rail flips, far surpassed that of any of her competitors” (p. 54).
Classic footage recorded by Chris Eggers of Corina at both Expo ’86 and the Münster Masters was uploaded here by Joachim Schulz:
A few years later, in Prague, Czech Republic, Corina placed 17th out of 30 guys in the 1988 Euroskate competition. When asked about her feelings as the only female to enter the contest, Corina replied, “I’ve just seen the points now and I’m wondering how they gave them. It’s really hard to tell. There are some people in front or behind who shouldn’t be there. It’s quite strange. Still, it was a fun contest. Everyone skated well. Personally, I skated well, so I’m happy.” Her response suggests that the judging was suspect at best.
Some rare footage of Corina was found from Skateboard World Cup in July 1988, in Munster, Germany competing in amateur freestyle along with the guys!
This performance, from the German TV Show “Geld oder Liebe” (Money or Love) in 1990 seems to be the last record of Corina skateboarding on record:
According to fellow Swiss skateboarder Ruedi Matter, he performed hundreds of skateboard demos with Corina back in the day. I would love to find an interview with Corina, perhaps in a European skateboard mag and to know more about how she began skating, if any companies sponsored her, etc.
Joachim YOYO Schulz replied to this inquiry sharing that Corina was sponsored by the same team as him, called Walker Skateboards in the 1980s. He also contributed these photos, which I am most grateful for! The content includes an ad for Walker, a drawing in 1986 by Jared Katz, an interview in Monster Mag, skate tricks from 1982-1986, and a great reunion photo of YOYO and GOGO in 2010!
Photos by: Martin Willners
Corina mentioned in “Radical Moves” that her passion was training horses, which was taking up more and more of her time, although it gave her free time to skate from April to September. Hopefully, she continued to balance her skateboarding and work, and that her home country managed to celebrate her accomplishments better than the skate industry at large.
References:
- Benito S. “Travels with the King.” Skateboarder. November 1979, pp.44 – 49.
- Contali, Marco. “Czech Euroskate ’88.” Thrasher. March 1989, pp. 70-71.
- Dean, Larry (director). “Radical Moves.” Transworld Skateboarding. 1986.
- Froden, Morten. “Best of Europa.” Thrasher. January 1987, pp. 47-49.
Womxn Skateboard History 