Beach volleyball pair to compete at London 2012 Olympics
2nd July 2012
The University of Bath-based beach volleyball pairing of Zara Dampney and Shauna Mullin were today (Monday) selected to represent Great Britain to compete at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Zara and Shauna will be the first British athletes to represent Great Britain in beach volleyball since the 1996 Olympics, when the sport joined the Olympic programme. They have trained together since 2009 and are currently ranked 37th in the world.
The University of Bath is the UK training base for the British beach volleyball programme and provides sports science support to the athletes.
Shauna said: “Competing at the Olympics has always been a dream of mine and at the end of July my dreams are comingtrue. Being selected to represent Team GB and be part of what is going to be the best Olympics ever is a huge honour.”
Zara added: "I am extremely excited to represent Team GB at the Olympics and I'm looking forward to the experiences and challenges that lieahead, especially in front of our home crowd."
As well as training on the outdoor beach at the Sports Training Village, Team Bath also provides sport science support to the British Volleyball women’s beach volleyball programme.
Kate Eddy, senior strength and conditioning coach at Team Bath, is also head of sports science for theBritish Volleyball beach volleyball programme and co-ordinates a range of services for the team. She has provided strength and conditioning support to the programme for six years. Barry Edwards provides physiotherapy, with Stan Mavridis providing sports massage.
Shauna receives a Team Bath athlete scholarship which covers a range of additional support services, including nutrition advice and sports psychology.
The London 2012 beach volleyball competition runs from 28th July to 9th August at Horse Guards Parade.