Austrian beach volleyball stars are preparing for a big summer

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Clemens Doppler and Alex Horst celebrate a point at the Fort Lauderdale Major in February. Photocredit: Mihai Stetcu

This year is going to be big for Austrian beach volleyball.

Between July 28 and August 6, Vienna will host the 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships, and, as hosts, Austria already have the luxury of two spots for two teams per gender.

That means the race is well and truly on among the country’s teams to book their place on the Danube Island, and no team will want to miss the spine-tingling atmosphere in front of a passionate crowd when representing Austria on home sand this summer.

So with the World Championships four months away, and a host of tournaments between now and then on the horizon – including Swatch Major Series stops in Poreč and Gstaad – the Austrian teams have been busy working hard in training to ensure they kick-off of the summer season in tip-top condition.

Now, if your geography’s good, you’ll already know that Austria is a landlocked country. But while the beaches around some of their most beautiful lakes could be the ideal training location, they don’t quite match up to those elsewhere in Europe…and that’s why a number of the teams have taken to Spain. No, not to catch the sun, but to serve, spike and sweat underneath it!

Austria’s most famous beach heroes Clemens Doppler and Alex Horst were joined by new women’s partnership Steffi Schwaiger and Katharina Schützenhöfer on the beach in Tenerife. Both teams finished in 17th place at the Fort Lauderdale Major but enjoyed a tough but enjoyable time in Spain to sharpen their skills.

Leider gehen heute 10 gute Trainingstage auf ...

Leider gehen heute 10 gute Trainingstage auf Teneriffa für uns vorbei! Danke an Herrera/Gavira und Xisto für die intensiven Einheiten. Viel Spaß noch @Beach Volleyball Team Schwaiger/Schützenhöfer.

From the Canary Islands to mainland Spain, more Austrian teams were being put through their paces on the beach.

New team Robin Seidl and Tobias Winter have high hopes of a successful first season together and chose Benidorm as their most recent training camp. And they weren’t alone…new kids on the block Martin Ermacora and Moritz Pristauz-Telsnigg, who missed Fort Lauderdale through injury, were also in town.

Office for the next two weeks! #benidorm 😍🙌🏼

Office for the next two weeks! #benidorm 😍🙌🏼

Die letzten Tage in Benidorm werden nochmal ...

Die letzten Tage in Benidorm werden nochmal richtig intensiv. Wir versuchen alles aus uns rauszuholen! 💪🏽 Bei dem Wetter fällt uns das ein bisschen leichter 😜 #verleihtflügel

Of course, promotion of the World Championships is also high on the players’ agenda and a number of the teams, including Thomas Kunert and Christoph Dressler and Lena Plesiutschnig and Cornelia Rimser, were guest stars at the annual Sports Ball in Vienna.

Beachvolleyballteam Plesiutschnig/Rimser

Live dabei beim #balldessports und bisschen Werbung machen für die Beachvolleyball-WM, die von 28.07.-06.08.2017 auf der Wiener Donauinsel stattfindet! #abendkleidstattbikini #beachwm

And finally, there were two Austrian twins on a beach far, far away doing their bit to make a name for themselves on the World Tour.

Nadine and Teresa Strauss, flew all the way to Australia (yes, Australia, not Austria), to take part in the two-star event in Sydney and came home with a ninth-place finish to add to the ninth-place they achieved in the one-star Shepparton event two weeks before. 

Auch in Sydney werden wir 9.! Nicht das ...

Auch in Sydney werden wir 9.! Nicht das gewünschte Ergebnis, aber wir haben von den 3 Wochen in Australien viel mitnehmen können und freuen uns schon auf die nächsten harten Trainingswochen zurück in Österreich! Morgen steht uns noch die 30 stündige Heimreise bevor✈️ Bis bald 👋🏻

A number of Austrian teams have entered into the next two FIVB World Tour tournaments – in Malaysia and China in April – and we’ll keep you updated on who wins what right here on swatchmajorseries.com.