The best Czech beach volleyball couple is breaking up, as world champion Ondřej Perušič has ended his career. His longtime teammate David Schweiner will continue to pair with Tadeáš Trousil, with whom he already played at the European Championship three years ago when Perušič was injured.
Perušič will remain in the group as an assistant, he also plans to participate in smaller tournaments as a player.
The main goal of the newly formed pair is to advance to the Olympic Games in Los Angeles 2028.
“Every athlete should be able to evaluate when the time has come to move on in life. I have come to it now, when, after a longer consideration of all the pros and cons, I have decided to prioritize family and work life over a professional sports career,” Perušič said. “I am very happy that it was possible to find a form of cooperation from which both parties could benefit. I am looking forward to working in a new role in the good old team and hope that in this way I can continue to contribute to the development of Czech beach volleyball.”
Perušič and Schweiner have been among the absolute best in recent years. In addition to the sensational world gold from Mexico, which they achieved the greatest success in the history of Czech beach volleyball, they won European silver a year earlier in Munich. They also have three triumphs on the world circuit of the highest category. They took fifth place at the World Championships in Adelaide in November.
Perušič and Schweiner started playing together in 2016, and Tomatis started coaching them soon after. For the first time, they drew more attention to themselves with a fourth place in Ostrava in 2018, and they rejoiced at their first triumph on the world circuit three years later in Doha. In the same year, Perušič’s positive test for the coronavirus deprived them of the hope of a better result at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, the year before last they finished ninth in Paris.
“It was a beautiful ten seasons and it had everything. From the initial effort, when we didn’t know if we even had what it took, through the first significant results to great results and quite a few medals. If I count correctly, our cooperation on the international field has generated twenty-five of them, including from the most prestigious events. I am satisfied and I know that we will continue to work together and see each other, both professionally and as friends. To the new I am very much looking forward to the cooperation,” said Schweiner.
Twenty-four-year-old Trousil has been part of the national team since 2023, since then he has changed several partners. The year before, he won the domestic title with Perušič, last year he defended it alongside Jiří Sedlák. Last season, he formed a pair mainly with Matyáš Džavoronok.
“I am very happy to be able to start a new project together with David and Tadeáš. The ten years of coaching Ondřej and David were amazing, we have a lot of great memories together, but now it is time to move on and focus on the next Olympic qualification,” said Tomatis.
