Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series

Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series
Full name Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series
Region International
Date span February–September
Tournaments Men & Women
Type Beach volleyball
CEO Hannes Jagerhofer
History
First tour 2015
Number of tour stops 4 (2015), 5 (2016), 5 (2017)
Most tournament wins
Women (team) Brazil Talita/Larissa (4 wins)
Men (team) Brazil Alison/Bruno (3 wins)
Present World Tour Final winners
Women Germany Ludwig/Walkenhorst
Men Brazil Alison/Bruno

The Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series (or Swatch Major Series) is an international series of beach volleyball tournaments which began in 2015. The tournaments consist of Tour Stops and form part of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. The series concludes with the Swatch Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour Finals.

History

The Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series arose out of a joint-venture between Austrian companies Red Bull and the ACTS Group.[1]

Red Bull was established in 1987 by Dietrich Mateschitz. Aside from the energy drink, Red Bull’s direct marketing focuses heavily on sports and lifestyle.

ACTS Group is a marketing agency founded in 1990 by Hannes Jagerhofer.[2] It offers services including event-marketing, event-organization, external-communication and public relations. The group has also been responsible for the organizing beach volleyball tournaments, including the FIVB Grand Slams in Klagenfurt, Carinthia, Austria.

Swatch is the title sponsor of the Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series. Other commercial partners at Swatch Major Series stop sponsors include smart and A1.

The Series will continue for a third year in 2017 with four Major stops and one World Tour Finals tournament in September.

Relation to the FIVB

The competition is overseen by the FIVB, the international governing body for the sports of indoor, beach and grass volleyball.[3]

In the category of Beach Volleyball, the FIVB oversees three competitions, namely: the FIVB Beach Volleyball Continental Cup, the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour and lastly the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships.

The Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series forms part of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.

Olympic qualification

Beach volleyball was formally recognized as an Olympic discipline in 1996. In order for a beach volleyball athlete to participate in the Olympics, minimum requirements must be met and one of these requirements as stipulated by the FIVB is that all athletes must have participated in a minimum of 12 official FIVB Olympic qualification tournaments as an individual.

Also an athlete hoping to participate in the Olympics must earn FIVB World Ranking points which tallies up to make up the Olympic Ranking.

Participation in the Swatch Major Series Beach Volleyball tournament counts as Olympic qualification tournaments and also earns athletes FIVB World Ranking points. An exception is the Swatch Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour Finals – participating teams do not earn FIVB World Ranking points for this tournament.

In 2016, the smart Major Hamburg was the final tournament where Olympic ranking points for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro could be obtained.[4]

Tournaments

2015

The first Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series began in 2015. There were Tour Stops in Poreč, Croatia; Stavanger, Norway and Gstaad, Switzerland. The Swatch Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour Finals took place in Fort Lauderdale Florida, United States.

Dates Tour Stop Major Host country Men's winners Women's winners
2–7 June Poreč Poreč Major Croatia Croatia Brouwer/Meewusen Netherlands[5] Larissa/Talita Brazil[6]
9–12 June Stavanger Stavanger Major Norway Norway Evandro/Pedro Solberg Brazil[7] Juliana/Antonelli Brazil[8]
7–12 July Gstaad Gstaad Major Switzerland Switzerland Alison/Bruno Schmidt Brazil[9] Larissa/Talita Brazil[10]
29-Sept-4 Oct Fort Lauderdale Swatch Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour Finals United States United States Alison/Bruno Schmidt Brazil[11] Larissa/Talita Brazil[12]

2016

The 2016 Swatch Major Series schedule began in Hamburg, Germany, and took in further stops in Croatia, Switzerland and Klagenfurt in Austria. The Series culminated with the Swatch Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour Finals in Toronto.

Dates Tour Stop Major Host country Men's winners Women's winners
7–12 June Hamburg smart Major Hamburg Germany Germany Lucena/Dalhausser United States[13][14] Ludwig/Walkenhorst Germany[15][16]
28-Jun-3 Jul Poreč Poreč Major Croatia Croatia Alison/Bruno Schmidt Brazil Laboureur/Sude Germany
5–10 July Gstaad Gstaad Major Switzerland Switzerland Evandro/Pedro Solberg Brazil Larissa/Talita Brazil
26–31 July Klagenfurt A1 Major Klagenfurt/Kärnten Austria Austria Samoilovs/Smedins Latvia Ludwig/Walkenhorst Germany
13–18 September Toronto Swatch Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour Finals Canada CanadaAlison/Bruno Schmidt Brazil Ludwig/Walkenhorst Germany

2017

The 2017 Swatch Major Series schedule was released in October 2016.[17] As part of the FIVB World Tour, the Swatch Major Series will again pay trips to Poreč, Gstaad and Hamburg. The 2017 tour will, however, begin in February in Fort Lauderdale, the site of the 2015 Swatch World Tour Finals. The 2017 Finals are due to be held in September at a yet-to-be revealed location. The Swatch Major Series will also be responsible for the organization of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Vienna in July and August.[18]

Dates Tour Stop Major Host country
7–12 February Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale Major United States United States
27-Jun-2 Jul Poreč Poreč Major Croatia Croatia
4–9 July Gstaad Gstaad Major Switzerland Switzerland
8–13 August Hamburg Hamburg Major Germany Germany
22–27 August TBA Swatch Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour Finals TBA

Mascot

The Swatch Major Series' official mascot is Marnin. Unveiled prior to the 2016 season, Marnin is described as a cross between a kangaroo and a fox.[19] Marnin made his debut courtside on the FIVB Tour at the Hamburg Major.

Gallery


External links

References

  1. ↑ https://www.swatchmajorseries.com/en/60/about-swatch-major-series
  2. ↑ http://www.acts.at/agentur.html
  3. ↑ http://www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyball/Competitions/WorldTour/2016/
  4. ↑ http://www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyball/Competitions/WorldTour/2016/Event/viewPressRelease.asp?No=61598&Language=en&Tourncode=MHAM2016
  5. ↑ http://www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyball/Competitions/WorldTour/2015/event/viewPressRelease.asp?No=52838&Language=en&TournCode=MPOR2015
  6. ↑ http://www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyball/Competitions/WorldTour/2015/event/viewPressRelease.asp?No=52815&Language=en&TournCode=MPOR2015
  7. ↑ http://www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyball/Competitions/WorldTour/2015/event/viewPressRelease.asp?No=53129&Language=en&TournCode=MSTA2015
  8. ↑ http://www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyball/Competitions/WorldTour/2015/event/viewPressRelease.asp?No=53093&Language=en&TournCode=MSTA2015
  9. ↑ http://www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyball/Competitions/WorldTour/2015/event/viewPressRelease.asp?No=54813&Language=en&TournCode=MGST2015
  10. ↑ http://www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyball/Competitions/WorldTour/2015/event/viewPressRelease.asp?No=54737&Language=en&TournCode=MGST2015
  11. ↑ http://www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyball/Competitions/WorldTour/2015/Event/viewPressRelease.asp?No=57875&Language=en&Tourncode=MSSF2015
  12. ↑ http://www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyball/Competitions/WorldTour/2015/Event/viewPressRelease.asp?No=57873&Language=en&Tourncode=MSSF2015
  13. ↑ http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Volleyball/Features/2016/June/12/Dalhausser-Lucena-close-2016-Olympic-qualification-with-a-gold
  14. ↑ http://www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyball/Competitions/WorldTour/2016/Event/viewPressRelease.asp?No=61988&Language=en&Tourncode=MHAM2016
  15. ↑ http://www.beach-volleyball.de/top-sport/news/newsanzeige/artikel/gold-fuer-ludwigwalkenhorst-beim-hamburg-major.html
  16. ↑ http://www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyball/Competitions/WorldTour/2016/Event/viewPressRelease.asp?No=61916&Language=en&TournCode=MHAM2016
  17. ↑ http://www.fivb.com/en/about/news/provisional-2017-beach-volleyball-schedule-announced?id=65164
  18. ↑ http://www.fivb.org/EN/Media/viewPressRelease.asp?No=63877&Language=en
  19. ↑ https://www.swatchmajorseries.com/en/558/about-marnin
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