It’s tough going on tour but having fun helps!

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It’s a tough life in the world of beach volleyball! Just ask Austrians Stefanie Schwaiger and Barbara Hansel. Photo credit: Predrag Vuckovic.

Believe it or not it’s not always easy being a beach volleyball player.

Travelling to exotic and far-flung destinations to play might sound glamourus and exciting and, sure, if you were courtside for our Swatch Major Series last summer you’d know why!

But spare a thought for the players on the tour who are desperate to collect ranking points in their quest for a place on the iconic Copacabana at this summer’s Olympics.

It’s dog eat dog on tour and sometimes the importance of the game, of the set, of the tournament, goes way beyond a shiny medal or a position on the podium.

Take recent silver medal winners, Austrians Stefanie Schwaiger and Barbara Hansel, for example.

Last week at a wet and windswept Xiamen Open, they battled through the qualification stage and made it all the way to the final – beating the first, second and fourth seeds along the way.

It sounds like a fairytale but it’s much tougher than that.

“We had really difficult winter preparations and we have to invest a lot,” explains Schwaiger, who represented Austria at the last two Olympics. “But the medal means a lot.”

The jet-set lifestyle of a professional beach volleyball player isn’t always sun, sea, sand and smiles, but a medal and 450 ranking points can make the travelling and the qualification matches all worthwhile.

Those precious points in Xiamen boosted the Austrian’s hopes of reaching Rio and they now trail the all-important final 17th place in the provisional women’s Olympic ranking table by just 550 points.

Attention now turns to the Fuzhou Open for Schwaiger and Hansel with their assault on the tournament beginning in the qualification stage once more.

And while that might seem a real slog for the recent tour silver medalists to qualify, they will still be diving around the sand with a smile on their faces.

“We will try to play as well as we can,” says Schwaiger “But for sure we will have fun in each of our games, because without a good mood on the court we cannot win.”

And there you have it – the point to this piece…! The secret to success in beach volleyball is having fun – and we like the sound of that!

Viel Spaβ, girls!