Wikipedia - Swans Gmunden
Basket Swans Gmunden is an Austrian professional basketball club that is based in Gmunden. Their home arena is Volksbank-Arena Gmunden. The club has won the Austrian Bundesliga six times, its most recent being in 2023. To add to that, the Swans have won seven national Cups as well. The main sponsor of the team used to be Allianz for a long period, in which the team was known as Allianz Swans Gmunden.
History
The team was founded in 1965, as the basketball section of Union Gmunden. The first match of Union was played in 1966, it was lost 11–35. After six years, the team eventually promoted all the way to the 2. Bundesliga. Gmunden played seven years in the league, than promoted to the 1. Bundesliga.
The club had its golden years starting from 2003, since then the team started winning trophies in Austria. In 2005, 2006 and 2007 the Swans took the national title. In the 2007–08 season, the first European game of the Swans was played. The team competed in the ULEB Cup, the second tier of European basketball. Swans won the first game on the road against Hapoel Galil Elyon with 74:79. After it sensationally survived the regular season, the team lost in the Eight-finals against Joventut Badalona, the eventual ULEB Cup champions.
In 2014, the sponsorship deal with Allianz ended and the team was named just Swans Gmunden.
In the 2020–21 season, Gmunden won its fifth national championship after a 11-year drought.
De Swans Gmunden hebben een rijke geschiedenis in het Oostenrijkse basketbal en hebben verschillende nationale titels en bekers gewonnen. Ze waren 13 keer Oostenrijks kampioen, de meest recente in 2011, en wonnen 11 keer de Oostenrijkse beker, de meest recente in 2012.
De club geniet een sterke reputatie in Europa en heeft meerdere malen deelgenomen aan internationale competities, waaronder de FIBA Europe Cup en de FIBA Basketball Champions League. Ze hebben consequent goede prestaties geleverd in deze competities en hebben enkele opmerkelijke overwinningen behaald tegen topclubs uit heel Europa.
De Swans Gmunden worden beschouwd als een van de beste basketbalclubs in Oostenrijk en hun wedstrijden trekken altijd een grote schare fans. De club staat bekend om zijn snelle en opwindende speelstijl en hun toewijding aan het ontwikkelen van jong talent.