Good morning, beach volleyball fans,
Everyone who reads this newsletter or listens to the podcast or reads other bits of my writing might not know everything there is to know about me, but they do know this: I am a proponent of double-elimination formats in beach volleyball. We even made a shirt that says "Give me double elim or give me death."
It is a hill I've chosen to die on in this life.
After Hermosa, I hope there are others on that hill with me.
The ending could not have been more perfect: A double-final on the men's side, featuring second-seeded Chaim Schalk and James Shaw against the magical Brazilians, Alison and Alvaro, who were playing their last tournament together, and Alison his last tournament on American soil.
To a double-final it went, where Alison sort of decided enough was enough, and he'd have all of the blocks, thank you very much, in a 21-14 double-final win that had Geeter on the mic asking for just one more set, pretty please.
The women's side featured no such theatrics: Kelly Cheng and Molly Shaw were ruthless in their dismantling of the field, winning a 32-team event in straight sets the whole way through. It's their first win as a team, and the $25,000 check more than doubles their most prize money in a tournament this year.
Not bad for a one-off event that saw prize money soar by $30,000 on the eve of the tournament.
An added bonus: Our guy Tri Bourne was back on the mic for the tournament, living his best retired life, and he chatted about as much with his old partner and coach, John Hyden.
The week in SANDCAST Studios
This past week featured John Hyden and his right-hand-woman, Nicole Christner, who coaches literally everywhere around the country and hosts a number of clinics with Hyden. Fun one, a wide-ranging chat about Hyden's career, Tri's retirement, Nicole's coaching journeys, and more:
News Around the Beach
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All of our Hermosa Open coverage can be found here:
- World Champs update! We published this after our newsletter went out last Monday, but the German women made a huge jump in the wake of Hamburg, while the men's side stayed mostly stagnant.
- Beach Access, Hamburg edition. This, too, went up after last week's newsletter published, as Kyle Friend and I recap Valentina Gottardi and Reka Orsi Toth's maiden win, and Anders Mol and Christian Sorum gone GOAT hunting among other major storylines from Hamburg.
- Midwest Open approaches. A $20,000 tournament in... Iowa? Hell yes. Here's the info and how to register.
- Nina Brunner and Tanja Huberli are back. In a heartfelt Instagram post, new mom Nina Brunner and out-of-surgery-and-still-on-crutches Tanja Huberli announced they'd be returning as partners after the 2025 World Championships this fall. The Olympic bronze medalists still feel there's more to their partnership, and I agree.
- 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 we have Arnaud Gauthier-Rat on the pod, and the backdrop in Hamburg is LOL worthy. You can already watch if you're a member.
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
