Tell me something about yourself, who are you?I am a person with the name Thomas "Schumi" Schumann. I grew up in Mollis and will probably grow old there too. I live in a house that I'm constantly renovating and will one day inherit. I feel very much at home there, although I also travel a lot otherwise.
"I'm a loner on the hunt for adventure, preferably on two or four wheels."
I like to be independent, but I don't mind if uncomplicated people with the same interests come along.What sports do you do?I do almost everything that rides and rolls. I skate the most, probably twice a week and then usually for an intensive four to sometimes eight hours at a time. I also ride downhill bikes and BMX. I also ride my motorcycle a lot. What I don't like so much is snowboarding or skiing, because there are no wheels involved. 🙂 The only exception is snow biking in winter, which is really fun.In my eyes, you are a special person who lives a special lifestyle as a multi-talent, freak and individualist. How do you see it?I can sign that. 🙂 For me it's so normal, others may not feel the same way. I'm always excitedArousal is a particular physical and mental state caused by external and/or internal stimuli. Certain images, smells or even fantasies can be arousing and trigger pleasurable feelings. Signs of sexual arousal can include changes in breathin... by new challenges. If I learn a new trick and have built the rail myself, that's a double success. However, I'm a very impatient guy and sometimes I prefer not to do a trick because I know that my impatience will get in the way of me learning it.
"What I love is speed, skating through a bowl at full speed is still one of the best things."
When I want something, I make it happen, so I take a lot of things into my own hands, like building things or filming myself. I'm very self-critical and do something until it suits me. That can sometimes take a long time.
"My area of interest is so close to my passion for sport that I have little general knowledge of other subjects. That often excludes me and makes me a loner, but I've gotten used to it."
I have great contact with my family. I can be who I am with them and they support me in what I do. My mother is a two-time world champion in trampolining and was Sportswoman of the Year. She didn't have an easy youth and overcame difficult situations with the help of sport, which I probably got from her. I got my individualism from my father and my sporting ambition from both parents. I also have a very good relationshipA relationship is a deep, close connection between two or more people. Relationships can be romantic, platonic, sexual or familial and can take various forms, such as couple relationships, friendships or parent-child relationships. Maintain... with my brother, who is three years older than me, although we are very different and don't actually have much contact. The only thing we have in common is that we started skating together and he also rides a motorcycle.
As an exotic person who can't be pigeonholed, you sometimes get into trouble. Where do you see your difficulties?
It's difficult for me to integrate into a group. I'm a strong emotional person and very sensitive, even if I don't always act like one, I sometimes swing from one extreme to the other. This doesn't always make it easy for people to understand me. Of course I'm happy when other people like me and I think it's great when people cheer me on when I'm skating. But then again, I find it difficult when people are only liked because of their success, you quickly become the best and suddenly a nobody. That's sad, because at the end of the day you're just a normal person.You had a turbulent youth and came into contact with addictive substances at an early age. When did that start and how did you get involved?I had older boys who went to school with my brother as role models. They were always with us in the hobby room, my mother's trampoline room. I smoked for the first time when I was nine, not really, but just the way you try it outOuting, outing: To out someone is to disclose a person's gender identity and/or sexual orientation to another person or group against his/her will. at the beginning. It was just cool to smoke back then. I started smoking properly when I was twelve. I stole packs of cigarettes from the store because I didn't have the money to buy any. During the summer vacations, I used to hang out with my brother's 16-year-old friends. I smoked pot with them for the first time and found the high quite amusing. From then on, I always got stoned in the clique when I could. One of the boys once had a skate with him and that's how I discovered skating.
They then showed me the Tony Hawk game on the Playstation and I was totally fascinated. The videos in the game showed Jamie Thomas, Geoff Rowley and Chad Muska sliding down the banisters on their skates and I thought, "I want to be able to do that too."
So we begged our parents for our first skate. Skateboarding became an integral part of my life because it takes a lot of time to get the hang of it. Punk music came into my life with skating, which I really liked. Back then, I also listened to a lot of techno with my circle of colleagues who didn't skate.
"When I was 14, I felt like I had to smoke weed every day and I actually always achieved my goal."
Alcohol didn't really appeal to me back then, but my colleagues liked to drink from time to time and brought the drinks to me. I drank then too, but never really much, because I once completely overdid it with a whole bottle of brandy and felt sick for a week afterwards. I didn't go to parties when I was 15, but I still came into contact with amphetamines or ecstasyEcstasy refers to a state of deep pleasure, elation or enlightenment that can be induced by particular experiences or activities. These experiences can be very intense and can alter the sense of time and space. You can go into ecstasy durin... quite easily because my mates knew who had what.
"I didn't need to go to parties to get drugs, it was enough to take a few steps outside my front door."
But we realized that these drugs were more suitable for partying and so alcohol started to dominate, although I didn't even like it.
"It was more about proving something to myself and others."
From 18 onwards, I really crashed. Somehow we came back to chemical drugs. By the time I was 19, I had to give up my driver's license again because I was using cannabis every day. I wanted to stop back then, but I became a beer drinker as a result, which also didn't fit in with the conditions imposed on me by the public prosecutor's office. I decided against my ID card and continued to smoke pot only now with beer. At the time, I drank between 1-3 liters of beer and smoked 4-8 joints a day, often more. When I was off work, I consumed alcohol and cannabis from morning to evening and when I was working, at the end of the day. As I was often injured or unemployed, I had plenty of time to get high. I could easily hang out on Langstrasse for 3-4 daysAnother description for period, menstruation, menstrual or monthly bleeding. with chemical drugs to keep me awake and then I would lie around at home for another 2 days.
"When I do something, I do it properly and that's how it was with drugs. I don't like half measures and so I was an alcoholic and drug addict at the age of 19."
I took a lot of different things at that time, but I didn't want to know anything about heroin, crack and meth. Despite the excessive time, I still practiced my sport. I even rode a BMX show completely on drugs. But the feeling wasn't always great, I noticed how my body was suffering and I no longer had myself under control.
"Sometimes I didn't even know how to put one foot in front of the other."
Suddenly I wasn't getting the same great trips and experiences with drugs as I had at the beginning, no matter what cocktail I mixed them in. I had consumed far too many hallucinogenic drugs for them to have the same effect as at the beginning. Emotionally, I often had a huge emptiness inside me that no longer seemed to fill. I knew from that moment on that I had to change something and had a complete breakdown when talking to my mother.
I worked in a psychiatric clinic and know that it's not so easy to get off drugs like that. Most of the time they are simply replaced by another addiction. That's why I think what you managed to do all by yourself is something extraordinary and shows great determination. Tell us how you got out of the drug misery?I went into total withdrawal at the age of 22. I quit all drugs, alcohol and smoking. Smoking weed was the hardest thing for me.
"But in keeping with my motto "either or", I don't like half measures and so I stopped everything at once."
My circle of friends showed little understanding for my withdrawal. Fortunately, my family stood behind me. It wasn't easy and I suffered a lot, so I looked for something to do. I opened my YouTube channel in 2009 and filmed myself skating, biking and BMXing. I skated a lot because the physical exertion and the distraction were just what I needed. I could sometimes only sleep for two hours at night, but when I was physically exerting myself, it was much better. https://youtu.
be/2KzM1O85BLU "I found the high in riding and experiencing something beautiful, which I enjoyed."
It wasn't an easy time, but I can look back and say with prideChristopher Street Day (CSD) is an annual celebration that takes place in many cities around the world in support and visibility of LGBTQ+ communities. CSD is usually celebrated in June or July and includes parades, rallies, cultural events... that I haven't consumed anything since 2009 and have regained my driver's license as a result.Did this time also have an impact on your sexual health, did you find yourself in difficult situations?
Oh yes, I often had unprotected sexSex is an intimate activity between two or more people who share physical closeness. Sex can be practiced in different ways, depending on the preferences and desires of the people involved. The only rule that always applies: sex without mut... during this time, with partners you definitely shouldn't have unprotected sex with. Protection becomes secondary when you're on drugs and you don't care about it. As soon as you're on chemical drugs or alcohol, the desire for sexual satisfactionSatisfaction is the feeling of well-being and contentment that is achieved through sexual activities or fantasies. It can be achieved through masturbation, intercourse or other sexual practices. Sexual satisfaction can also be experienced t... kicks in and the partner or protection is no longer so important, you follow your instincts.
"I experienced and saw a lot during this time and this scene that I found difficult to process."
After my withdrawal, the first thing I did was to get myself fully tested. I was very scared of the result, but I was lucky. Now I consciously use protection and experience sexuality as real and emotional.What advice can you give others who are in a similar situation?It's difficult, because in addition to the drugs that give you a boost in life, you lose almost all your friends and social environment.
"It takes a lot of strength to get up and stand up to everything."
The best thing to do is to find something that gives you strength, distracts you and, above all, makes you feel good.The freestyle scene also likes to party and often involves alcohol and other addictive substances. How do you deal with that?
I don't like parties and rooms with too many people anyway, so I often avoid them. What others consume in my presence doesn't bother me at all, they can do what they want. It's not difficult for me not to join in and I have no desire to do so.What's under your bed?
Dust and nothing else interesting.
"When I was a boy, there were still sex toys under my bed... ;)"
What's in your garage?
A self-built skate ramp (bowl) and about five motorcycles, bikes and my BMX. https://youtu.be/2fDgv5YHcTsYou have already achieved many successes in skating and biking, such as becoming Swiss vice-champion and Swiss champion. You attract attention with your special style. I always like to see how ambitious you are and how much physical strength, dynamism and passion you invest. What are your personal successes?
My personal successes are when I achieve something that no one else or hardly anyone else has achieved, when I do something extraordinary.
You were the first Swiss champion of the Sk8board PumpKing Challenge 2016. What is the PumpKing Challenge? What does it mean to you to be the PumpKing?The pump track is a track built for skill and endurance, for training bikers to move with their own muscle power to keep moving without pedaling. This also works with the skateboard, and this is how it is implemented at the Sk8teboard PumpKing Challenge. The fastest rider to use their own body dynamics and momentum to get through the wave track with steep wall curves wins. In Pfäffikon ZH, at the first event, I wanted to be the fastest because I like riding fast anyway. I had a lot of fun at the event and even won it. Then I found out that there was a whole tour with an overall winner and I was in. It was great and a challenge to beat my own time every time.
"The best thing about it is that I won the tour and became the first ever Swiss champion of the Sk8teboard PumpKing Challenge."
Will you try to defend your title in 2017?
Oh yes, I will definitely try to defend my title and keep my crown 😉 Interview with Thomas "Schumi" SchumannText: Corinne Rietmann Photos: Pascal Landert, Dominik Bosshard
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