Hamburg, Germany, August 23, 2017 – The $800,000 Swatch Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour Finals presented by Vodafone will be the last tournament of the year for many of the athletes competing in Hamburg this week. This will not be the case for Sarah Pavan, though.
Originally an indoor athlete, having played professionally in Italy, Korea, Brazil and China, Pavan has split time between sand and the indoor courts since 2013, motivated by the dream of competing in the Olympic Games, something that was accomplished in 2016, when she finished 5th in Rio with former partner Heather Bansley.
“The key is not to think too much about it. If I give myself time to think about it, I’d probably be so tired and die,” she joked. “It’s a job, it’s how I support my family, so there is no option. I love both. I love the fun and exciting atmosphere of beach and I also love the power of indoor. I’m going to do it for as long as I can and enjoy it.”
To remain competitive and healthy during the entire season, Pavan needs to take special care with her body which is put under pressure on two different surfaces and has little to no vacation every year.
“I really take care of myself,” she commented. “I am very diligent with my rehab exercises, with my strength training programmes. I’m very aware of my body so I take very good care of it. That’s all I can do.”
“And she also stretches a lot, which is a good remainder for me,” joked Humana-Paredes. “Sometimes I just forget, but when I see her stretching I do it and hopefully I can play for as long as she can.”
Being in the World Tour Finals reinforces the good season Pavan and her partner Humana-Paredes had on their first year together. The duo is second in the World Tour rankings after winning gold at the Porec Major, getting silver in Rio de Janeiro and Olsztyn and bronze in the Gstaad Major.
“This is the perfect finale to our dream season,” Pavan added. “We expected to do well on our first year together but we didn’t expect to see this kind of growth so soon. We’re excited about how our partnership started and we really want to cap it off in a big way here in Hamburg.”
Pavan and Humana-Paredes started their campaign on the right foot by overcoming fellow Canadians Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson 2-1 (20-22, 21-12, 15-9) on Wednesday. They will now face the Czech Republic’s Barbora Hermannova and Marketa Slukova on Thursday.
