The mood before the long journey via Dubai to Australia for the Beach Volleyball World Championship in Adelaide was very relaxed for Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler. “I have prepared something,” revealed Ehlers, who felt a certain familiarity with the conditions in the Australian spring as he had already completed a training camp there. His partner Clemens Wickler was relaxed: “I rely on Nils.” Also when it comes to the selection of restaurants.
On the field, the distribution of the top German duo is usually different. Here the 1.91 meter tall defender from Lake Starnberg acts more dominantly. The 30-year-old Wickler is considered the head of the duo, while his teammate from Berlin, who is one year older and twenty centimeters taller, acts as an extended arm of the team at the net.
Ehlers/Wickler have been forming a syndicate since 2022 and have done so very successfully – with winning the silver medal at the Olympic Games in Paris as the highlight. Just as it is with the high point of a career: after that the decline inevitably begins.
What the two “beach boys” didn’t necessarily expect was the mental strain caused by the numerous honors and receptions. At the same time, the problem arose as to how they should reconcile their increased demands with the declining results on the field? In short: the two silver beach volleyball players fell into an Olympic hole.
“We had worn ourselves out”
What came as a surprise to outsiders was the nature of the liberation: they separated from their successful coach Thomas Kaczmarek. “We had worn ourselves out,” said Wickler, explaining the reason for the cut in the summer: “It was a super successful time and we are very grateful to him, but it was hard to imagine doing it for another four years.”
Ehlers/Wickler’s declared career goal is the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. For the realignment along the way, they hired Alexander Prietzel and Helke Claasen as a coaching duo. They also receive support from sports psychologist Thorsten Weidig.
The reorientation also means that both players want to take on even more responsibility on the field and that they try to improve their communication in order to save resources. And they have also included some technical and tactical variants in their repertoire: the trend of finishing with second balls, occasionally passing the ball while jumping, and blocking from the side. They continue to try to keep the serve pressure high.
Big jumps announced
At the European Championships in Düsseldorf at the beginning of August, Wickler/Ehlers played very inconsistently, but still reached the quarter-finals. As in the Olympic final, they lost to the Swedes David Åhman and Jonathan Hellvig. But the low was overcome. Since then, “things have only been going up,” explained Wickler.
In Australia, the two Germans, who are currently 13th in the world rankings, will first meet the Canadians Schachter/Pickett (Saturday, 11 a.m. CET), before they have to face the blatant outsiders Mondiane/Mungoi from Mozambique on Sunday. Even before the group final on Monday against the Argentinian Capogrosso brothers, a place in the knockout round should be guaranteed.
And then the tournament really starts. With really high goals. “Of course we want to be on the podium, we want to crown the season again,” Ehlers announced big jumps, which correlate with his plan for the supporting program: “We want to watch emus and go on a kangaroo tour.”
