Good morning, beach volleyball fans,
And greetings from, you guessed, it, an airport. Tallahassee International today, where I… might not actually leave for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Visa problems and stuff.
So I’m here, writing to all of you, and will likely return home to my sleepless daughter, construction-loving toddler, and very tired wife. Whether I make it to Rio or not is very TBD; I needed a photo finish in my life.
Here we have it.
Of course, this rollicking travel story has nothing on the epic slugfest that was the Joao Pessoa Elite, where it was USA vs. Brazil over and over and overandoverandover again. Fourteen times in all did the USA play Brazil on the women’s side, with the Yanks taking 9 wins to just 5 losses.
None bigger than a pair of semifinal wins by Kelly Cheng and Molly Shaw and Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft, setting up an All-American final in Brazil. It would be Cheng and Shaw who came away with gold, in one of Cheng’s most dominant performances I’ve seen from her in a long, long time.
I have the full recap here, and it is FULL, because the event was exploding with storylines as World Champs qualifying has just two events remaining.
What else happened?
- Terese and Meg now have 7 silver medals and 0 golds, the most consistent bridesmaids in the sport. Read more.
- Evandro and Arthur have now won 3 golds, all at home, and four of their six medals as a team have come at home. Talk about a home court advantage: Brazil has it. Read more.
- Remi Bassereau and Calvin Aye came out of the qualifier to finish second, their first Elite medal at a critical time — and making me look smart, as I bet on them medaling in an Elite back in June. Read more.
- Joao Pedrosa and Hugo Campos had a similarly well-timed breakout, stunning Anders Mol and Christian Sorum en route to a fifth-place finish and big, big points. Read more.
- It was a very bad 24 hours for the Swiss men. Yikes. Read more.
- It was a very good few days, on the other hand, for Austria’s Timo Hammarberg and Tim Berger, who finished fifth and logged their first win over Sweden. Read more.
- This was the first Elite without a Scandinavian team in the semifinals…ever. Read more.
- George and Saymon are the new kings of the All Weird team. Read more.
- Chaim Schalk and James Shaw just needed to not get last. They got last. Read more.
So yeah, big week.
And a big week ahead in Rio,
Meanwhile, on the podcast, we rolled the clocks back, bringing on Canyon Ceman, a seven-time AVP winner who sat down with Tri Bourne in a wonderful conversation.
The week in SANDCAST Studios
This past week featured Canyon Ceman, a seven-time AVP winner who is still dominating the fours scene at 22nd street. He and Tri Bourne sat down for a wide-ranging and deep, deep conversation about all of the best things. Just listen. It’s one of the best all year:
BTS of Tri Bourne’s Final Tournament
We broke out all of the stops to record Tri Bourne’s final tournament at the 2025 Manhattan Beach Open.
Here is Part I and you best grab a tissue or some onions to blame before watching Part II. It’ll hit ya in the feels.
What Made Karch Kiraly the GOAT?
Canyon Ceman digs into what it was like to play against Karch Kiraly and Phil Dalhausser, and what made them so great — and Karch absolutely unstoppable. Fun one. Watch and read here.
News Around the Beach
- Gella Andrew: FSU’s resilient leader by example. Going 24-12, winning CCSA Freshman of the Year was no small thing for the 6-foot-4 blocker. Now she’s back, even better, for year two. Fun feature on one of the best young women in the NCAA.
- Anhelina Khmil, and Ukraine’s surprising success. Our new star writer, Graham Hays, delivers another excellent feature, this one on TCU’s Anhelina Khmil, who is now leading Ukraine to a breakout summer on the Beach Pro Tour.
- Beach Pro Tour hits Rio de Janeiro. Maybe I’ll get there. Maybe not. In any event, here’s the entry lists for the penultimate event in the World Champs qualifying period.
- We now have an ad free tier for audio. Tired of listening to ads? I saw a bunch of comments on the ad frequency in Rogan podcasts, and figured I’d give our listeners an ad-free option. For 5 bucks a month, you no longer have to listen to ads, and you support the show. Win win. Here’s the link where you can become a patron.
- Watch SANDCAST Episodes Early! Become a member of our YouTube Channel and you’ll get every piece of content days or weeks or, now, months, even, before anybody else.
- Coming up on Wednesday we have me, chatting all things Joao Pessoa and the explosion of storylines above, as well as a preview of Rio. Always fun when you hit record in the 5 a.m. hour before your toddler comes down demanding magnetiles and yogurt bowls.
Much Love to the sponsors
We’ve been with Wilson Volleyball since day one, and we love the products they make — the best ball on the market, hands down, no questions asked. Use our discount code: SANDCAST-20 for 20 PERCENT OFF.
Watch VBTV for 10 percent off using our discount code, SANDCAST10.
We’ve got SANDCAST merch! Get yourself some swag.
SANDCAST adds another year with AG1. One of our longest-running sponsors, AG1, is back on the pod for another year. We’ve re-signed with the brand, and have changed our model with them, to a fully affiliate-model. So if you want to stay healthy AND help the show, please order with this link, which comes with a full year of Vitamin D for FREE, as well as five totally FREE travel packs!
We’re officially partnered with Better at Beach! If you want to get Better at Beach, use our code SANDCAST for 10 percent off all of their products, from online classes to in-person camps and more.
SHIELD is the new presenting sponsor of our Beach Access episodes following Elite tournaments. Get yourself some athletic tape that actually works, and use the code SANDCAST to get a little discount.
Appreciate y’all for listening, reading, and loving the beach like we do.
Have a great week!
SHOOTS!
SANDCAST Team
