Good morning, beach volleyball fans,
There was no newsletter yesterday for the most unexpected of reasons: I was in Tallahassee, yes, but got in at 2 am after a 7-plus-hour drive from Pompano Beach, where we left much later than expected because I was on the podium with Miles Partain doing the pictures and whole routine after winning the tournament.
That was, to put it mildly, a surprise.
I know, I know: Miles is probably the best player in the country, and is only two years removed from finishing No. 3 in the Best Player in the World voting. But still: I don’t play volleyball anymore. Haven’t played a single competitive match since Hermosa of 2024… 15 months ago. But sometimes things come back quicker than expected, and beach volleyball is beginning to inhabit a similar space as golf to me: I’ll pick a club up twice or so a summer, miss a few putts, gaff some chips, but still ham and egg my way to a 78 or something.
So, yeah, we won, and it was a ton of fun. I’ll have a blog up later this week on why I played in the first place. Shoutout, too, to the women’s winners, Kamila Tan and Natalie Myszkowski, who won their first gold, and bronze medalists Carly Kan — Mrs. Underrated herself — and USC’s Maya Gessner. Lotta ‘Merica on that podium.
The funniest part of this whole things is that a washed up podcaster-commentator-coach-writer-dad winning a gold medal wasn’t even the most unexpected of the weekend! Over in Itapema, Brazil, a couple of young French players you’ve never heard of, Joadel Gardoque and Elouan Chouikh-Barbez, stormed their way through the final Elite of the season to win gold. Hilariously enough, this is their first time even making a quarterfinal, much less winning a medal, much less winning gold in a light but still pretty decent field that included all of Brazil’s best.
What a wild ride of a finish to a hectic year. Glorious, all the way around, especially with Martins Plavins and Kristians Fokerots doing what they do late in seasons and winning a silver and Evandro and Arthur continuing to thrive at home with a bronze. And how about them Crabbies? Taking home a fifth and an upset win over Andre and Renato.
Fittingly, the women’s side was won by the Iron Woman, Mother of Dragons, Carol Salgado and Rebecca Cavalcanti, who topped an all-Brazil podium that also included the ageless Talita Antunes and Taiana Lima and former world No. 1 Victoria and Thamela.
What a weekend.
I am very sore.
Let’s get to pod stuff.
The week in SANDCAST Studios
This week Tri and I caught up from Adelaide and answered a bunch of fan questions, namely about the AVP schedule and what the scene might look like in 2026, including some partnership speculation — shout out to Bet The Beach for throwing some odds down.
You can:
Give us a follow on Spotify if you haven’t already.
News Around the Beach
- It’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s December 1. Wild! Our most popular write-up, every year, without fail, is up: The 2025 Ultimate Beach Volleyball Gift Guide. Go get that beach volleyball enthusiast in your life some swag and equipment and merch and all the rest.
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Matches from Pompano are up! There was plenty of interest in watching the lefty-lefty dark magic of Miles Partain and me from Pompano. You asked, we delivered with some film on our YouTube page.
- First round of pool against Poland, which I think was probably the best team we played
- Second round against a pair of talented young Norwegians, the blocker will be VEYR GOOD, very soon
- Quarterfinals against fellow Americans David Wieczorek and Jacob La Bouliere, who are very large humans
- Finals against a couple of talented young Germans I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of on the Beach Pro Tour
- My phone overheated roughly 2 points into our semi, so no film there.
- I finished Montaigne, by Stefan Zweig. A book that came highly recommended by Ryan Holiday was solid, and here are my biggest takeaways from it.
- 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 Zach Schubert, Australian Olympian who delivers an AWESOME pod. So much fun chatting with this dude, on his home soil, during his retirement weekend.
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.
Appreciate y’all for listening, reading, and loving the beach like we do.
Have a great week!
SHOOTS!
SANDCAST Team
