On August 6, 2021, Anouk Verge-Depre and Joana Heidrich won the Tokyo 2020 bronze. It was not just Switzerland’s first Olympic podium in women’s beach volleyball, it was also only the second Olympic medal for a European women’s pair in the history of the sport.

Six months later, Swiss Volley, the country’s national federation, commemorated the half-year anniversary of the historic occasion with a video, including an interview with the Olympic medallists in the cosy atmosphere of the indoor beach centre in Bern. The two athletes reminisced about their experience in the Japanese capital last summer, but also explained how the start of the pre-season has gonet, what their goals for the new Olympic cycle are and much more.

“It was a beautiful experience!” Verge-Depre said. “I think the moment after such a victory gets underestimated. You work for this goal for such a long time - and then, all of the sudden, you're there. That's why I needed some rest and some time to contemplate.”

“It took me quite a long time to realise what we achieved at the Olympics in Tokyo,” added Joana. “But now it's already pretty far away again, because the focus is on our new goals.”

The Swiss pair have worked with their new coach, Greek specialist Spiros Karachalios, since the start of the new Olympic cycle with Paris 2024 as the long-term goal in mind.

“For the current cycle until Paris, we'll try out new stuff with our new coach,” said Verge-Depre. “And we'll also be trying to optimise certain processes. The start with Spiros Karachalios was very hard. The footwork still needs to improve - but we're getting there...”

“The World Championship in Rome is one of our goals for this season and a medal would be great!” Heidrich pointed out.

With the new Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour getting underway next month, Verge-Depre and Heidrich are intensifying their preparations. They travelled to Tenerife for their first training camp of the year. Anouk is recovering well from some post-coronavirus lung problems and is already back to her normal training load, as she shared on social media.

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