Presentation

Returning for a record 17th consecutive year on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour calendar, Switzerland will host the double-gender FIVB Lucerne 4-Star Open, one of two events in the country on the 2017 FIVB World Tour calendar, from May 23-28. The other event in Switzerland will be the Swatch FIVB Gstaad Major series event scheduled for July 4-9.

A total of 33 previous FIVB World Tour events have been staged in the picturesque Swiss village of Gstaad, including 16 straight men’s events and 17 consecutive women’s events. One double-gender open for men and women was held in Lucerne in 2015. The 2007 event in Gstaad was the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships.

Men’s championship team of the 2015 Lucerne event was Italy’s Marco Caminati/Alex Rangieri. Winning the 2015 women’s gold medal in Lucerne was Germany’s Karla Borger/Britta Buthe.

In 2016, Lucerne hosted the FIVB U-21 World Championships. Winning the men’s gold medal was Brazil’s Arthur Mariano/George Wanderley and capturing the women’s gold was Eduarda Lisboa/Ana Patricia Silva.

Lucerne is a city in central in Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 80,501 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and a nexus of transportation, telecommunications and government of this region. The city's urban area consists of 17 cities and towns located in three different cantons with an overall population of about 250,000 people.

Because of its location on the shore of Lake Lucerne (der Vierwaldstättersee), within sight of Mount Pilatus and Rigi in the Swiss Alps, Lucerne has long been a destination for tourists. One of the city's famous landmarks is the Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke), a wooden bridge first erected in the 14th century.