They completed the very good year 2025 for French beach volleyball (bronze medal at the worlds for Arnaud Gauthier Rat and Téo Rotar, the pair Clémence Vieira-Aline Chamereau vice-European champions). Elouan Chouikh-Barbez and Joadel Geneviève Gardoque won the Elite 16 tournament in Brazil on December 7, 2025, the highest level of competition on the Beach Pro Tour, in Itapema. Since Sunday, this golden duo has been from Chartres, recruited by C’Chartres Volley (at the top of national 2).
“It’s super important because our sport is booming,” reacts Joadel, from Reunion Island. But we don’t have contracts like in football. When we have the opportunity to partner with a club that supports our project and develops its beach volleyball sector, we go for it. »
With this victory in Brazil, the two young players aged 23 and 22 are making an impression. The duo is the second French pair to put their name on the top step of an Elite 16 tournament podium. The highlight of their first season together. In 2026, their goal is to win the European Championship.
“This will be our first European Championship on the pro circuit because we did not qualify last year. With the points we have accumulated we should be able to participate, especially since it qualifies for the Olympic Games. It’s a really important deadline,” continues Joadel Geneviève Gardoque.
Goal: Los Angeles 2028
With Chartres, the commitment is for one season, renewable depending on experience. The club is investing 60,000 euros, half subsidized by the National Sports Agency. But the desire is to support this pair until the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028.
“It’s a separate competition even if we meet the same teams as on the Pro Tour. The Olympics have inspired us since we were little. As soon as it ended, we dreamed of the next ones in four years. It’s a unique atmosphere, you’ve seen Paris! It also allows our sport to be publicized, it is the high point for a career,” relishes Elouan Chouikh-Barbez.
With these players from the French team, Chartres is committed to promoting beach volleyball. Far from the sea and the sand, the department of Eure-et-Loir did not have dedicated land until 2024. Anomaly corrected in 2025 with the creation of eight fields in Bû, Châteaudun, Nogent-le-Rotrou and Chartres.
“The hardest part was having land”
“The hardest part is having land,” admits Jean-Baptiste Baron del Amo, president of the C’CV. Now we want to do incredible things and work on a big beach project. But, above all, we want to help the discipline flourish in France. It’s an emerging sport, we want to participate in this dynamic. »
For the past year, Chartres has had around forty members in beach volleyball. Licensees who benefit from performance courses led by the two professional players. The first is scheduled from May 8 to 10, just after a stage of the Beach pro Tour in Brasilia, Brazil (April 29 to May 3).
