Happy Tuesday everyone,
Whew.
Who else needs a nap?
I do.
In the past 10 days, I commentated 36 matches, wrote 14 (now 15) stories, produced four YouTube videos, and recorded a few podcasts. Hope you enjoyed, because by the end of my Great Mexico Adventure, I had no idea what was coming out of my mouth on Volleyball TV or what was being printed into digital ink. Hope it was at least in English.
What a wild ride World Championships was. Linked below is all the coverage I’d expect you’ll want to read:
- GOLD FOR CHENG AND HUGHES! Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes won the first USA gold medal since Jen Kessy and April Ross did so in 2009
- “F–ing fourth!” Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner made history…by becoming the only players in World Champs history with multiple fourths
- A historic debut for Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth. Nuss and Kloth, in their first World Championships, won the first USA bronze since Liz Masakayan and Elaine Youngs in 1999.
- Is that even possible? Terese Cannon was in disbelief that six USA teams won their pools in Mexico.
- The perfect time to peak. Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles were magnificent at World Champs.
- What. A. Semifinal. Cheng and Hughes vs. Nuss Kloth is a must-watch.
- Like a kid on the playground. How Hailey Harward partnered up with Alix Klineman — and then stunned Germany’s top duo in Cinja Tillmann and Svenja Muller.
- New Olympic rankings! All the points have been tallied, and there’s a new No. 2 team in the USA: Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner.
This week in SANDCAST-Land
This week’s podcast featured one of the happiest, sweetest people in the world: Hailey Harward. She’s also gifted and hard-working to the point of being picked up by Alix Klineman, one of the best blockers of this generation.
Road To Paris in Mexico
We brought stud videographer, Daniel Freitas, aka Frito, down to Tlaxcala to bring highlights, recaps, and insight from the most important tournament of the year. La Maquina, or Producer Threeto, as he came to be known, produced four Road to Paris episodes, including today’s from Tlaxcala. You don’t want to miss any of them:
- Days one and two, focusing on the huge upsets (China over Brazil? Mexico over Brazil??), including Alix and Hailey’s over Germany, with insight from Hailey
- A look at how six teams won their pools, including Chase Budinger and Miles Evans’ wild ride to breaking pool.
- American woman, stay away from meee-eee. A look at the dominant start from the American women, who sent three teams into the ninth-place rounds.
- Three shots at a medal! A preview of the medal rounds, and the stunning manner in which the USA took three cracks at the podium.
- What’s this all mean? The wide-ranging impact of the World Championships on the Olympic race.
News Around the Beach
- The show goes on! World Champs is over, but the season is not. The Goa Challenge begins Thursday, and we’ve got six men’s teams and two women in the mix. Full entry lists are here.
- Another dub for QuiggleHorn in Laguna. Amidst the madness — in the best way — of World Champs, I completely forgot the Laguna Open was happening. It happened, and Corinne Quiggle and Sarah Schermerhorn picked up their second win of the season, while the entertainers of the year, Seain Cook and Cody Caldwell, took their first dub.
- Coming up on Wednesday we have Steve Obradovich, who is resurrecting fours beach volleyball in the USA, with an elite field this weekend in Newport Beach — and potentially a league, with franchises and everything, to come in the somewhat near future.
If you enjoy the podcast or this newsletter — or both! — we’d love it if you could share it out! Word of mouth is the best way we grow, so share the love, and as always, let us know any content you’d like to see more of (or less of) and we’ll make it happen!
Much Love to the sponsors
We finally have an alcohol sponsor! Bartender in a Box is fueling some fun conversations on SANDCAST with its Mai Tais and Margs. $20 for a box that’ll feed 12? We’ll take it! Be sure to check them out for your libation needs!
Hydration is absolutely everything to a beach volleyball player, especially staying hydrated in a manner that helps our beautiful environment. Which is why we are STOKED to partner with Waiakea Hawaiian Volcanic Water for THREE YEARS! They offer all kinds of fantastic deals online, and good news for you (and us), you can get 20 PERCENT OFF using our discount code, Sandcast, at checkout. Aloha, y’all.
SANDCAST is fueled by a lovely mix of three main ingredients: We LOVE to do it, people enjoy listening to it, and sponsors fund our ability to do so. We only partner with sponsors we love, and we are so fired up to have Athletic Greens join the show! And they’re hooking up our listeners with a full year of Vitamin D for FREE, as well as five totally FREE travel packs!
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. With season coming up, if you’re looking to get some new equipment, use our discount code: sandcast-20 for 20 PERCENT OFF.
Appreciate y’all for listening, reading, and loving the beach like we do.
Have a great week!
SHOOTS!
Tri and Travis (and Savvy)
