Sarah Pavan on accepting change and finding rhythm
LOS ANGELES, United States, June 18, 2020 – Sarah Pavan and her
partner Melissa Humana-Paredes were about to begin their seasons
in March when the pandemic imposed changes to the international
calendar, which is yet to resume. And it was a blow for the
33-year-old blocker.
“I’m not someone who likes changes, so the first couple of weeks
were difficult,” she reflected in an interview with Beach
Inside’s Nils Köpke. “We were about to go to Cancun and start
our season and then the Olympics got postponed. I wasn’t in a
good place mentally in the first weeks, but I’ve since found
peace with the situation.”
Pavan’s frustration is easy to understand. The former indoor
player and Humana-Paredes were just a few months away from their
first Olympic appearance as a team and they were about to head
to Tokyo among the favourites to compete for medals this summer.
The team, which was formed at the end of 2016, was fresh from
its best season to date, having won the FIVB World
Championships, the Vienna Major and an FIVB World Tour
three-star tournament in Edmonton, Canada last season, results
that took them to the top of the world rankings.
“I would have loved to play the Olympics this year,” she
acknowledged. “We had very good momentum, we were headed in a
very good direction and even seeing how we were playing during
pre-season, we were playing at a very high level. We were really
ready for the 2020 season and I had this feeling it was going to
be amazing, so to have it stop and the Olympics postponed was
really difficult. I know that our volleyball skills won’t go
away and that our relationship is very strong and I trust that.
I really think we will still be ready next year and maybe this
is just a great opportunity for us to become better at things.”
One thing Pavan and the 27-year-old Humana-Paredes won’t have to
worry about is securing their spots in Tokyo. Unlike most of the
other beach volleyball teams in the world, the Canadians have
secured a berth for their country at the Games with their World
Championship victory in Hamburg last year.
With the Olympic qualification process extended to June 2021,
the Canadians will be able to use the months ahead of them to
strengthen their team for the Games.
“We’re definitely very lucky to be in the position we are,”
Pavan added. “Last year was very strange because some teams who
usually rank really high had injuries and missed some important
tournaments, so the ranking right now is kind of not what most
people expected. We’re very happy that we have our spot in the
Olympics. I know that many teams are really stressed right now
and I’m just very grateful that this is something we don’t have
to think about. We obviously want to improve our rankings for
the Olympics, but just knowing we’re going no matter what is
nice.”
Their victory in Hamburg was the apex of the season last year
for the team, which was formed at the end of 2016 and has played
in 33 World Tour tournaments, winning six of them and securing
five other medals. But their journey has had its ups and downs,
which Pavan remembers well.
“When Melissa and I started together, we started very strong. We
entered our second season as the number one team in the world
and that was a position we’d never been in before. I think we
took a deep dive as a team as we tried to figure out how to
navigate that position. The 2018 season was disappointing for us
and we learned a lot of lessons, so coming to 2019 we really
wanted to improve on that and to solidify our place at the top.
Our goal was to win the World Championship and it was amazing
that we did that, but aside from the motivation of how
disappointed we were the year before, I think our relationship
as a team got better. Melissa and I really settled into a place
of comfort and trust in one another and that really came through
in the most difficult moments.”
The trust they have developed is also helpful right now. The
Canadians not only have to work individually to maintain their
form, but are also doing so while in different countries. While
Pavan lives in Los Angeles, from where she combines her workouts
with online volleyball classes, Humana-Paredes is back home in
Canada. But they are adamant they’re always heading in the same
direction.
“We have a group chat, so we talk there and send each other
funny pictures we find online, but most of the times when we go
separate ways we let each other live their lives,” the blocker
remarked. “Melissa has her own schedule and we’re just enjoying
this time with our partners. We trust each other that we’re
doing the best we can to stay fit.” |