Many may have thought that the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games would mark the end of Pablo Herrera and Adrian Gavira’s long journey together as a team. The two experienced Spaniards would not have ruled it out themselves. Yet here they are, overcoming many off-season difficulties, ready to play on the all-new Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour, hoping this new beginning will eventually lead them to Paris 2024, and confident of their ability to make it to what would be Herrera’s record-high sixth Olympic appearance.

“Of course, we have a long-term goal in mind with our decision to keep playing together, and that is to be at Paris 2024,” 34-year-old Gavira told Volleyball World. “Pablo will make history becoming the only beach volleyball player to play at six Olympics Games. We know that it will be very hard, but if we decided to try, it is because we have confidence in our abilities.”

Despite Herrera’s knee surgery in October and coronavirus infection in January, as well as some additional medical complications both players suffered in February, now they feel ready to compete at a high level again.

Herrera and Gavira have been partners on tour since the start of the 2009 season and have already played at three Olympic Games as a team. Their 14th season together on the sand is set to start next week, when Mexico hosts the Tlaxcala Challenge, the Beach Pro Tour’s inaugural event from March 16 through 20. They are placed directly into the main draw, seeded eighth.

Then, they will stay in Mexico for another week to play at the Rosarito Elite 16, where they are seeded sixth in the qualification bracket.

“I feel really good after the off-season,” Gavira said. “This time I have not stopped for long holidays, but it was enough to take a trip to Tanzania as a tourist, so I feel very fresh in my mind. I think our coach Fran Marco has done a good job planning that. During Pablo's recovery I played with Alejandro Huerta in Itapema and at the King of the Court Finals in Doha, and it was a good experience. It had been many years since I last played with a different partner, but I felt very comfortable with him. Now, with Pablo and I deciding to keep playing together, we have difficult and ambitious goals, but we want to keep enjoying our time together on the court.”

Herrera and Gavira, together with the other Spanish duos preparing for the Beach Pro Tour including the men’s pairing of Alejandro Huerta and Sergi Rene and the women’s teams of Belen Carro and Angela Lobato, and Paula Soria and Sofia Gonzalez, had a month-long training camp in Tenerife, where they had preparation sessions with teams from Czechia, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Switzerland...

Between their short-term objective to perform well in Mexico and long-term goal of playing at the Paris Olympics, Herrera and Gavira have also set a mid-term target and that is to qualify for the 2022 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Rome.

“Pablo has been working hard to have the best recovery possible. It has been three or four long months for him, but fortunately he is feeling very well and that makes us optimistic. He has been back to normal training on the court for a few weeks now, so we hope to show a good performance. The outlook may not be the best for us, but we will try to qualify for the World Championships,” added Gavira.

“The knee is fine. Little by little, we are improving,” Herrera confirmed in a proyectofer.es interview. “The objective in this initial part of the season is to qualify for June’s World Championships in Rome.”

The Athens 2004 silver medallist and five-time Olympian, who will turn 40 in June, does not shy away from admitting that he is tempted to become the first beach volleyballer in history to compete at six editions of the Games.

“I consider myself a very discreet and modest person, but I am not going to deny that this opportunity is one of the main impulses for me to extend my athletic career for a few more years,” he added. “Furthermore, we believe that we still have the strength to compete at a high level.”

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