The white sands and turquoise waters of Coolangatta on the southernmost tip of the Gold Coast are a long way from the ice-cold hangar at a Dorset school where Chris Gregory and Jake Sheaf usually play their beach volleyball.
The pair have overcome severe financial strain, heart surgery and the freezing conditions of their training base but they are not in Australia to enjoy the weather, much as they might.
Winning the bronze medal on Thursday against the New Zealand brothers Ben and Sam O’Dea would not only be the biggest victory of their career, it could prompt a meaningful change to the sport’s future in Britain.
Beach volleyball is making its Commonwealth Games debut in Australia. When the next Games are held in Birmingham in 2022 there are 13 sports guaranteed a place, with beach volleyball among another 13 sports fighting for the four remaining spots.
While Birmingham may not have such a stunning backdrop as the Gold Coast, London 2012 proved volleyball can draw the crowds on home shores, proving one of the hits of the Olympics when it was played on Horse Guards Parade. Gregory and Sheaf know an English medal could prompt Birmingham 2022 organisers, who decide which sports to include, to look kindly on beach volleyball.
“I’m obviously biased,” Gregory said, “but the atmosphere, venue, crowd and everything they do around beach volleyball is incredible and it would only be an asset to a Commonwealth Games at home, so I hope we can keep it in. A medal for us would go a long way to convincing them. It was our goal coming here to give ourselves a chance to win a medal and we have done that. Of course it’s not gold but it’s always good to look at the positives.”
Their semi-final was the Ashes on sand as the third seeds faced Australia, with the home nation ranked No 1. England won the first point but it was the only time they were ahead. Gregory, who at 6ft 9in is the tallest member of Team England, made several excellent blocks but Australia won the first set 21-13. Dancers dressed as lifeguards provided the entertainment between sets as Feeling Hot Hot Hot by the Merrymen blared around the arena but it did little to inspire an comeback. England called a time-out at 18-12 down in the second set and it briefly revived them as they got back to 18-15 but Australia’s class showed.
“We wanted to do better,” Gregory said. “It’s been really tough just getting here. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs on and off the court but we knew we were going to face them.”
To say they have faced obstacles on the route to the Gold Coast would be an understatement. Gregory was identified as part of the Sporting Giants programme, a nationwide talent search that began in 2007 with the London Olympics in mind. It counts the world champion rowers Helen Glover and Vicky Thornley among its alumni. Gregory did not make it to a home games but the scheme encouraged him to address an irregular heartbeat.
“I kept having these episodes,” he has said. “During matches or training I’d get this fast heartbeat. I was aware but left it for a while but they kept getting worse. Eventually, they diagnosed it as supraventricular tachycardia.”
He had heart surgery at Kings College hospital in London. “It was four hours on the operating table,” he said. “I was awake the whole time. There was a risk I’d need a pacemaker and that would have meant no sport at all but thankfully it went well.”
While many athletes in Team England have a comfortable existence on UK Sport funding, Gregory and Sheaf have had to use industry and imagination, funding themselves for most of the last four-year cycle.
Their rise up the world rankings, from outside the top 300 to 65th in the world by last March was enough to secure £40,000 of Sport England funding, which allowed them to compete internationally for the last year. For most of the year the duo, both 28, practise inside what is little more than a shed in the grounds of a school in Bournemouth, enduring freezing cold in the winter, a huge contrast to the Gold Coast heat.
“This is an incredible arena,” Gregory said after the semi-final, “by far the best we’ve ever played in. We’re disappointed not to be in the final but it’s always good to reflect on what you’ve achieved and it’s not over yet.”
