He is The Thin Beast, a gold medalist, perhaps the greatest American blocker of all time, if not in the whole world. But if you’d have asked Phil Dalhausser in college if he would have ever been a beach volleyball player, his answer would have been a resounding no. But when you’re nearly 7 feet tall, can set better than anyone on the planet, side out nearly every time and are peerless at the net, well, a career on the beach is a no-brainer.
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.
