Good morning, beach volleyball fans,
Greetings from Tallahassee and not Cape Town, South Africa — or any other travel spot in between — where the penultimate event on the Beach Pro Tour calendar was held. Of all places for the German women to put on a show, a place nearly 14,000 kilometers from their training center in Hamburg is not the first I’d have pegged.
Yet here we are, and Cinja Tillmann and Svenja Muller stood atop the podium for the first time since July of 2024, and Anna Grune and Smilin’ Sandra Ittlinger won their first Elite (or Challenge!) medal as a team. Good on them. Also good to see is another happy individual: Raisa Schoon, who won her second straight silver in her reunited partnership with a healthy Katja Stam.
Good vibes in Cape Town, especially for Sweden, whose youngsters, Jacob Holting-Nilsson and Elmer Andersson, won their first Elite gold in their third Elite final, fending off another plucky young team in Austria’s Timo Hammarberg and Tim Berger, who, like Ittlinger and Grune, skipped the Challenge medal and went straight to an Elite podium for the first time. Meanwhile, another first: Norway’s Hendrik Mol and Mathias Berntsen won their first Elite medal (a bronze) after making their first Elite semifinal.
Fall is, as I mentioned after the qualifier, where seven U.S. players made their first Elite main draw, Breakthrough Season.
Now, we’re in World Champs season.
The week in SANDCAST Studios
This past week featured me, doing a deep dive into the men’s World Championship field, breaking down all 12 pools, explaining the always complicated format, picking winners, the whole 9. We’ll revisit after the event to see how the preview held up:
Pool of Death: Pool C
Any time there is a contest in which pool play is the format, there will be a Pool of Death. At this year’s World Champs, that pool is Pool C. I explain why:
News Around the Beach
- Tim Brewster and Ryan Ierna’s Big Breakthrough. As mentioned: Fall is Breakout Season. But Tim Brewster and Ryan Ierna didn’t just capitalize on a watered down field in Cape Town: They upset a talented German team in Paul Henning and Lui Wust to earn the best finish of their careers — and a whole lotta points.
- 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 I am now chatting all things women’s World Championships, breaking down every pool as I did for the men.
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
