The reigning women`s champions from 2024, the American pair, are among several formidable teams returning to the Swiss Alps this week, vying for another victory.
This week, the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour arrives at Gstaad, Switzerland, one of its most recognizable and distinctive venues, for the fifth Elite event of the 2025 season, running from Wednesday to Sunday.
A regular fixture in international beach volleyball since 2000, the Swiss town is highly favored by athletes and fans alike and consistently ranks among the season`s highlights.
Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher, the women`s champions from last year, are set to defend their 2024 title in the Swiss Alps. The American duo has shown strong form this season, reaching the podium in three out of four tournaments they`ve contested: gold in Brasília, silver in Saquarema, and bronze in Quintana Roo. However, they come to Gstaad following their least successful result of 2025, a 13th-place finish in Ostrava.
Another American team, Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft, will also be competing in Gstaad, having secured silver in 2024. They were runners-up in the first Elite event of the season in Quintana Roo and appear close to earning another medal, having placed fifth in Saquarema, Brasília, and Ostrava.
The third pair from last year`s Gstaad podium, Latvians Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova, earned silver at the most recent Elite event in Ostrava. In their other 2025 appearances, they finished fifth twice and ninth once.
Olympic champions Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa and Ana Patrícia Ramos of Brazil, winners in Gstaad in both 2022 and 2023, will not participate this year due to injury. Nevertheless, many other top teams have traveled to the mountain resort, including fellow Brazilians Victoria Lopes/Thamela Coradello and Carol Salgado/Rebecca Cavalcanti, Germans Svenja Müller/Cinja Tillmann, Swiss Anouk Vergé-Dépré/Zoé Vergé-Dépré, and Canadians Brandie Wilkerson/Melissa Humana-Paredes.
Mol and Sørum Aim for Third Title
In the men`s competition, the 2024 champions, Sweden`s David Åhman and Joanatan Hellvig, were forced to withdraw due to an injury sustained at the Warmia Mazury Challenge last week. However, other previous Gstaad winners are present, eager to reclaim the top spot.
This group includes the top-ranked FIVB pair and Tokyo Olympic champions, Anders Mol and Christian Sørum of Norway. They previously won in Gstaad in 2018 and 2019 and have since sought another golden cowbell, finishing second in 2023 and third in 2024.
Americans Andy Benesh and Miles Partain, who won in the Swiss Alps in 2023, are also back this week hoping to repeat their success. They have participated in only two Beach Pro Tour events in 2025 thus far, finishing ninth in Brasília and fifth in Ostrava.
The Norwegians and Americans were part of a training camp before Gstaad, which also involved Dutch Olympians Stefan Boermans and Yorick De Groot, winners in Switzerland in 2021. The Dutch pair secured gold earlier this season in Brasília but arrive in Gstaad after an early exit (13th place) in Ostrava, following a third-place finish in Saquarema, their first event of the season.
The list of returning Gstaad champions also features Chilean cousins Marco and Esteban Grimalt, who claimed the coveted cowbells in 2022. Unlike the other former winners, the South Americans will start the tournament in the qualifier round on Wednesday.
Another notable participant in the men`s qualifier in Switzerland is the temporary return of Brazil`s Andre Loyola. The 2017 world champion had announced a season break for recovery but seized the chance to play in Gstaad with his long-time partner George. The pair earned silver last year and bronze in 2023 in the Swiss city.
Other prominent men`s teams competing this week include Qatari Olympic medalists Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, Czech world champions Ondřej Perušič and David Schweiner, and promising Cuban pair Jorge Alayo and Noslen Diaz.
Matches in Gstaad commence on Wednesday when the qualification rounds for both genders will be held and the men`s main draw will begin. Pool play continues through Thursday and concludes Friday morning for the women. The men`s and women`s Round of 18 and the men`s Round of 12 matches will also take place on Friday.
The knockout stages intensify on Saturday, featuring the women`s Round of 12 and quarterfinals, and the men`s quarterfinals and semifinals. Sunday`s schedule in Gstaad wraps up with the women`s semifinals and medal matches, followed by the men`s medal matches.
Jasper Thornfield 
Oliver Wrenwick