Two weeks ago, SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, hosted Melissa Humana-Paredes, the FIVB Defender of the Year for 2019. She was, per usual, an excellent guest — one of the kindest, most likable people not just in beach volleyball, but the world — and in the clip below, she discusses the reality of a gold medal hangover, and the emotional roller coaster that comes after winning both the World Championships and the Manhattan Beach Open in the same year.
You can listen to the full episode with Melissa Humana-Paredes here. To listen to her episode in 2018 with her partner, Sarah Pavan, click here.
Author, journalist, podcast host, and broadcaster, Travis Mewhirter has written 4 number-one bestsellers — including Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball, alongside Olympic gold medalist Kent Steffes. He has also written award-winning features, including a package at the Northwest Florida Daily News that earned him Sports Writer of the Year, and a heartfelt story on the late Eric Zaun in Volleyball Magazine, which was an honorable mention in the 2020 Best American Sportswriting.
Following the passing of Eric Zaun, Mewhirter, alongside Jon Mesko and Katie Spieler, founded the Eric Zaun Award, which has raised more than 25 thousand to fund beach volleyball players.
Mewhirter now devotes most of his time to playing and covering beach volleyball, via his podcast: SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, as well as writing for Volleyball Magazine and commentating on Volleyball TV. Mewhirter and Bourne have written two books together: Volleyball for Milkshakes, and Playbook of Champions, both of which were number-one best-sellers.