Latvia’s leading beach volleyball pairs ended last season with a start at the European Championship in Jurmala. None of the duos managed to reach the quarterfinals, as a result of which the European Championship was concluded in the split ninth place.
In his last game of the season, Pļaviņš / Točs gave up 0-2 (17:21, 18:21) to the three-time European champions Nikola and Lupo, who were sown with the fifth number in Jūrmala. The Italians later won bronze.
In a conversation with LETA, Pļaviņš revealed that the first weeks after the European Championship are dedicated to recreation, but now we should pay attention to the next stage of preparation before the upcoming season, for which there are still a lot of questions, but not answers.
“At the end of October, I took a test at the Latvian Olympic Team (LOV), but I started training in light mode a week earlier. So I meet in about four weeks of training,” says Pļaviņš about his schedule during the autumn. “After the test results, we had to make adjustments to the training plan, paying more attention to running.”
“With Edgar [Toču] We spend a total of three workouts a week, but I have nine workouts a week. “
Pļaviņš revealed that his and Toča’s physical fitness plans are different. Also, the balls are not used in training, so the two pairs do not spend the training together day in and day out.
“We each work individually and according to our own plan. Once we know the calendar, we will be able to start training with balls together, but I haven’t touched them since the European Championship,” the experienced beach volleyball player outlines his future plans. for full-fledged work.
“Everything is healed. LOV doctors and coaches are the ones who are holding me back at the moment,” laughs 35-year-old Pļaviņš. “They recommend me to run slower than I want, as well as work with lower weights, because we work on volume, not on developing strength. I always want to do everything faster myself, but now I’m slowing down.”
In the autumn, with the participation of Norwegian beach volleyball players, one camp was planned in Latvia and the other in Norway. This plan failed due to Covid-19. Pļaviņš expressed confidence that he will be able to find sparring partners before the start of the season.
The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) has still not released a calendar for next season’s competitions, but by the end of the summer, beach volleyball players were saying that the first competitions in March could take place in Doha. If these rumors come true, Pļaviņš / Točs plans to go to a camp in Egypt in January, where he would spend a month.
“Egypt is a great place to improve physical fitness and technical elements,” says Plavins, who has been preparing for beach volleyball seasons in the country in advance. “After this month, we’ll also see where to go next and play sparring.”
“But if this race doesn’t happen because of Covid, we’ll have to think of something else, because there’s less and less money left for the sport, so there’s no point in wasting it.”
Also, Pļaviņš did not rule out the possibility that next year before the Tokyo Olympic Games it will not be possible to leave the field. In such a scenario, the Latvian duo could start their first ball training three months before the Olympic Games. The main ball in your hands pick up two and a half to three months before the first tournament.
“If we start sooner, we will get tired of each other and of the bombs,” laughs Pļaviņš, whose future plans include participation not only in Tokyo, but also in the Paris Olympic Games, which are planned for 2024. “After Doha, we will probably go to Spain, but we still have to see what the situation will be.”
Speaking about last season, Pļaviņš did not hide that the small number of tournaments can also be felt in the wallet, because he has not managed to compete for cash prizes. The beach volleyball player did not call his financial situation the brightest, but stressed that now all the attention is paid to the Olympic Games, so the priority is sports and nothing else.
“If we say that the Olympic Games will be canceled, the priorities will probably change, but at the moment we have to take the opportunity that we have qualified for the Games,” Pļaviņš names the priorities. “If everything returns to normal in 2022, and the season on the World Tour returns with at least ten tournaments, I won’t have a problem staying in the sand for the next Olympic cycle.”
Last season, Pļaviņš / Točs participated in the prestigious “King of the Court” tournament, but in Latvia Pļaviņš won the same type of competition. The duo spent most of the season in Latvia and also participated in competitions in Estonia.
Pļaviņš / Točs takes the 17th place in the ranking of FIVB beach volleyball pairs
Pļaviņš has twice competed in the Olympic Games during his career, winning a bronze pair with Jānis Šmēdiņš in London in 2012. Two years earlier, Pļaviņš also won the European Championship in bronze.
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