Teams from France and Switzerland reached the podium at the recent Alanya Challenge on the Beach Pro Tour, a success significantly supported by FIVB Volleyball Empowerment. Switzerland`s Anouk Verge-Depre and Zoe Verge-Depre secured the gold medal in the women`s competition. French pairs also performed strongly, with Clemence Vieira and Aline Chamereau earning bronze in the women`s event, and Teo Rotar and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat claiming silver in the men`s tournament.
The women`s podium was completed by Italy`s Valentina Gottardi and Reka Orsi Toth with silver. In the men`s competition, Czechia`s Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner won gold, while Brazil`s George Wanderley and Saymon Barbosa took home the bronze.
Impact of FIVB Volleyball Empowerment
FIVB Volleyball Empowerment has provided substantial support to both national federations. Swiss Volley`s beach volleyball program has received USD 366,000 in coach support, enabling their women`s national teams to train under Polish coach Damian Wojtasik.
The Federation Francaise de Volleyball has received even greater support for its beach volleyball department, totaling USD 1,077,000 in coach funding. French women`s duos are guided by Youssef Krou, and the men`s teams are trained by Brazilian coach Calvis Lopes. France has also benefited from USD 5,500 worth of beach volleyball equipment.
Performance Highlights
The Swiss sisters Anouk and Zoe Verge-Depre celebrated their first Beach Pro Tour gold together in Alanya. This marked their third consecutive Beach Pro Tour medal, following a silver at the Spiez Futures and bronze at the Ostrava Elite. Zoe, a Paris 2024 Olympian, and Anouk, a two-time Olympian and Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist, teamed up for the first time on the Beach Pro Tour for the current Olympic cycle. In Alanya, they had a dominant run of six straight wins, dropping only one set throughout the tournament, which was in the final against Gottardi & Orsi Toth.
French Olympians Clemence Vieira and Aline Chamereau, who will compete in Paris 2024, started their Alanya campaign from the qualifiers. They advanced to the semifinals without dropping a set in five matches. Despite a loss in the semifinal to the Verge-Depre sisters, the French duo secured their first Challenge-level medal by winning the bronze match against Claudia Scampoli and Giada Bianchi of Italy, who had to withdraw due to injury after the first set.
On the men`s side, 21-year-old Teo Rotar, a 2021 U19 world champion, and Paris 2024 Olympian Arnaud Gauthier-Rat, teamed up this season and achieved their second consecutive Beach Pro Tour medal. Following a bronze at the Xiamen Challenge in May, they claimed silver in Alanya. Also starting from the qualifiers, the French pair reached the final on a six-match winning streak, including a semifinal victory over Australian Olympians Mark Nicolaidis and Izac Carracher.
In the gold medal match, Rotar and Gauthier-Rat faced the top-seeded Czech pair, Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner. The reigning world champions and two-time Olympians proved too strong, winning in straight sets. This victory marked Perusic and Schweiner`s third medal in their four Beach Pro Tour appearances in 2025.
In the men`s bronze medal match, the Brazilian qualifiers George Wanderley and Saymon Barbosa defeated Nicolaidis and Carracher to secure the podium spot. This was Saymon`s first ever Beach Pro Tour medal.
The Alanya Challenge saw the participation of 44 women`s teams and 53 men`s teams representing 25 different countries.
Oliver Wrenwick 
Finley Blackwood