This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter features Marco Krattiger, Switzerland's longtime veteran blocker who has been playing professional beach volleyball for more than a decade -- and is only just now beginning to peak, as he and Leo Dillier finished ninth at the 2025 Beach Volleyball World Championships. Their year included a top-10 at the Gstaad Elite, the home event to all Swiss Beach Volleyball players, victories over Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner, Evandro and Arthur, Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot, and more.

Chapters with Marco Krattiger

00:00 Introduction and World Championships Tournament Context

03:46 Experiences at World Championships

06:12 Expectations vs. Reality in Major Events

10:55 The Roller Coaster of Performance

12:50 Learning from Low Points

15:41 Evolution of Beach Volleyball Tactics

18:47 The Impact of Rule Changes

24:24 Player Dynamics and Team Chemistry

28:15 Toughest Opponents in Beach Volleyball

33:36 The Rise of Swiss Beach Volleyball

47:49 Future of Swiss Women in Beach Volleyball

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WE'VE GOT MERCH! Check it out here!!

Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST-20. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball

Get 10 PERCENT OFF VBTV using our discount code, SANDCAST10

Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products!

We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link.

If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/

On this episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, Travis sits down with Australian Olympian Zach Schubert, who after 9 years of playing professional beach volleyball is retiring, doing so at the 2025 Beach Volleyball World Championships. We cover quite a bit of ground in this chat, including:

- Why double-elim is the best format in the world

- Zach Schubert's trying journey to the Olympics, and why Thomas Hodges is the man responsible for his success

- Why he chose to retire from the game

- Why the pursuit of the Olympics shouldn't be the end all, be all for athletes

And so, so much more

SHOOTS!

***

WE'VE GOT MERCH! Check it out here!!

Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST-20. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball

Get 10 PERCENT OFF VBTV using our discount code, SANDCAST10

Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products!

We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link.

If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/

Welcome back to SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter where the boys are far and wide: Bourne is at home in the studio in Hermosa Beach while Travis is out and about in the Outback, on day 9 of the 2025 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Adelaide, Australia. They catch up and chat:

- A breakdown of the 2026 AVP Schedule, looking at the AVP Major Heritage events and the glut of AVP Heritage Contender events

- Travis Mewhirter reviewing the Beach Volleyball World Championships, looking at how the crowd was, how the vibes were, who played well, who didn't

- What Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson need to do to get over the 5th place hump

- Is the honeymoon over for Andy Benesh and Miles Partain, who took a 17th at the Beach Volleyball World Championships?

- Why folks should be tuning in to beach volleyball right now (hint hint: David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig are on the scene)

- The AVP's return to one of its longtime stops: Belmar, New Jersey

- What April Ross' new role is with USA Volleyball

- Who we'd play with from the 80s and 90s eras of beach volleyball

- If we'll have Anders Mol and Christian Sorum on SANDCAST again (yes, please) - What we eat for breakfast

- Why Chicago was not disappointing at all for the AVP

SHOOTS!

***

WE'VE GOT MERCH! Check it out here!!

Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST-20. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball

Get 10 PERCENT OFF VBTV using our discount code, SANDCAST10

Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products!

We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link.

If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/