Hüberli/Brunner are in the Olympic semi-finals on Thursday. Their strength also lies in the fact that they have always been open to developments in their sport.
Nina Brunner (right) and Tanja Hüberli celebrate their entry into the semifinals.
Laurent Gillieron / Keystone
Tanja Hüberli and Nina Brunner have long been standing behind the stadium under the trees of the park in the dark when the nighttime show begins at the Eiffel Tower. Thousands of lights flash like crazy while Hüberli and Brunner calmly describe the electrifying spectacle they have just put on in the quarter-finals.
The duo has not lost a set at the Olympic tournament so far, and Hüberli and Brunner recently defeated the world champions from the USA. They are only one win away from a medal. The Swiss were behind at times, “but this situation is no longer difficult for us,” says Hüberli, “we are certain that we will get another break. That gives us inner peace.”
The 31-year-old Hüberli and the 28-year-old Brunner are playing their ninth season together – they have never been as good as they are now. The same could be said about Swiss women’s beach volleyball. Three teams qualified for the Olympic Games with their performances and were in the top 17 in the world rankings. However, only two duos per nation are allowed.
Hüberli/Brunner were practically untouchable thanks to their strong season, but the other two duos fought a dramatic duel until the last qualifying tournament: Here Anouk Vergé-Dépré and Joanna Mäder, the bronze medal winners from Tokyo 2021, who fought to catch up after Mäder suffered a serious injury. And there Zoé Vergé-Dépré, Anouk’s younger sister, with her partner Esmée Böbner. One of the sisters had to take away the other’s Olympic dream.
The younger, up-and-coming team was in the lead at the end. And they thanked them in Paris with surprisingly strong performances all the way to the quarter-finals, which Böbner/Vergé-Dépré ultimately lost narrowly.
Esmée Böbner (left) and her teammate Zoé Vergé-Dépré hug after being eliminated in the quarterfinals.
Laurent Gillieron / Keystone
They train alternately with each other
The three teams know each other inside out. Almost twelve years ago, after the Olympic Games in London, the Swiss Volley Association initiated a project at the performance center in Bern to better promote beach volleyball. As is often the case with young sports, Switzerland quickly rose to the top of the world, celebrated successes with the Laciga brothers in the 1990s and won Olympic bronze with Heuscher/Kobel in 2004. Now those responsible wanted to structure the promotion better.
“The philosophy from the beginning was that we do certain things together, use synergies that you can only have in an association,” says women’s national coach Christoph Dieckmann, a former European champion from Germany who has been involved in the project since its inception. “But also allow each team its individuality.”
For example, the world-class teams have organized themselves independently of the association in the areas of mental and athletic training, but they always train together in different combinations or with the men who are also in the performance center. “This way we get the best of both worlds.”
The coaches no longer work exclusively with one team either – Dieckmann, for example, is currently the head coach of Hüberli and Brunner, but is also being called in by Vergé-Dépré/Böbner. Another advantage in Bern: Young teams see what approach is needed to reach the top of the world. And to stay there.
The beach volleyball game has become more variable
Beach volleyball has developed further in recent years and has become more varied. In the past, the three possible ball contacts were exploited and the attack was carried out according to the same pattern, but today it is wilder: attacks with two ball contacts, variation in the pace of play, longer running routes.
One example of this is the young Swedes Jonatan Hellvig and David Ahman, who have introduced jump passes – the opponents hardly know which of the two will attack next. This is not yet practiced to such an extreme degree by women, say Hüberli and Brunner, but it is going so well for them because they have followed the development of the sport. “We were open and ready to take the step.”
For coach Dieckmann, this is one of the main reasons for Hüberli/Brunner’s success. Other athletes don’t let themselves be told what to do if they have mastered something specific at a very high level. “These two, however, are an exceptional case. They have this will every day to admit their shortcomings. And they want to work on them.”
Another reason for the success is the good technical basis. Nina Brunner remembers winters in which they did hour after hour of technical exercises and thought: are we going to play one day? “But that’s to our advantage now.” The Zug defense player cleared the ball at the last minute several times in the quarterfinals, including spectacularly with her foot – the video images of the action went viral on social media the next day.
The two are glad that they are not playing their first games in Paris. Tokyo was a bitter experience for Hüberli/Brunner (who were still called Betschart before marrying ice hockey pro Damien Brunner): In a hard-fought round of 16 with five match points on both sides, they lost to their Swiss colleagues Heidrich (now Mäder)/Vergé-Dépré. A week later, however, they became European champions.
“I have been thinking much less about the Olympics this year than I did in Tokyo,” said Hüberli before the games in France. “I know now that I don’t have to do anything incredibly special.” The strong performances in recent months give me security and self-confidence for the two upcoming big games.
Spectacular staging: Almost 13,000 spectators can fit in the beach volleyball arena near the Eiffel Tower.
Laurent Gillieron / Keystone
Will this be their last Olympic appearance together?
Dieckmann is leaving Switzerland to become the head coach of the German national team. And changes are also coming for the six world-class Swiss players. One or two of them want to start a family.
But how can such an unplannable undertaking be planned in a sport in which a duo normally spends an entire Olympic cycle together? In today’s world, when women return to elite sport even after giving birth?
It may be that whether or not the sporting goals are achieved at these games also plays a role in career planning. The successful duos of Swiss beach volleyball could soon be re-formed.
