Team Canada’s Paris 2024 beach volleyball team unveiled
TORONTO (June 28, 2024) – Volleyball Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee have announced the roster of Team Canada beach volleyball athletes nominated to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The six athletes are:
Melissa Humana-Paredes (Toronto, Ont.)
Brandie Wilkerson (Toronto, Ont.)
Heather Bansley (Waterdown, Ont.)
Sophie Bukovec (Toronto, Ont.)
Samuel Schachter (Richmond Hill, Ont.)
Daniel Dearing (Toronto, Ont.)
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson, who both competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with different partners, qualified for Paris 2024 based on their position in the FIVB World Rankings. This team is currently ranked fourth in the world, with impressive finishes this year on the Beach Pro Tour including a recent silver at the Ostrava Elite 16.
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson made their debut as a duo on the Beach Pro Tour in February 2023 and quickly demonstrated their chemistry, earning their first Elite 16 gold medal on home sand in Montreal in July. Together they served as Team Canada’s flag bearers for the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games Opening Ceremony, where they won the silver medal. Although their partnership is still relatively new, Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson are one of the top women’s beach teams in the world.
“It’s finally here! We have been preparing and looking forward to this moment since we embarked on this journey together less than two years ago. When we got together, our goals were clear: making history in Paris,” said Humana- Paredes. “As a new team (formed just two months before Olympic qualification began), we didn’t have much time before needing to execute in order to get Olympic points. We knew what the team was capable of and quickly we made our presence known, meeting our standards every chance we got.
“We wouldn’t have been able to do this without the support of our family and friends, but mostly to our chosen family and the team behind the team.”
On June 23, Schachter and Dearing secured the men’s continental spot and Bansley and Bukovec won the women’s continental berth at the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Tlaxcala, Mexico. Both teams went undefeated throughout the tournament without dropping one set.
Paris 2024 will mark Schachter’s second Olympic Games after his appearance at Rio 2016 where he competed with former partner Josh Binstock. Schachter also competed on home sand at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games. Schachter and Dearing, both 34 years old, teamed up in 2022 and shortly thereafter won silver at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. The team also won gold at the 2022 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour Finals in Dominican Republic in December 2022. Dearing, who works as a volleyball coach for youth and adults, will make his Olympic debut in Paris.
“I am incredibly grateful to be returning to the Olympics for the second time, especially after just missing out on qualifying for Tokyo. I have a renewed appreciation for how difficult it is to have the opportunity to represent your country at the Olympics,” said Schachter. “We are so proud to be able to compete in Paris, but certainly could not have done it without every member of our team and people supporting us throughout this process.”
Paris 2024 will mark Bansley’s third Olympic appearance following her fifth-place finishes at both Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. Bansley initially retired from competition after Tokyo 2020, but came back to the sport and teamed with Bukovec in July 2023. After having less than a year of competitive experience together, Bansley and Bukovec won silver at a Beach Pro Tour Challenge event in Brazil this past March.
“I have been taking a moment to enjoy this big accomplishment of qualifying for my third Olympic Games and Sophie’s first, but know that there is still lots of hard work to do ahead in preparation for Paris,” said Bansley. “We set a goal of trying to qualify for Paris together 11 months ago, which we knew was going to be extremely challenging and a little bit crazy, but also doable.”
Bukovec, who will make her Olympic debut in Paris, won gold at the 2014 FIVB U21 World Championships. She is also a three-time NCAA National Champion. In 2022, Bukovec played with Wilkerson, and the duo won silver at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships.
“I am extremely excited and honoured to be representing Canada at the Paris Olympic Games,” said Bukovec. “It has been a very fast and intense qualification period for Heather and I, as we started a little bit behind having only been playing together for 11 months. When we committed to each other, we knew it was an uphill battle and that it would be one of the most challenging things we do, but our team had full confidence that we could make that dream a reality!”
Beach volleyball will take place July 27 to August 10 (Day 1 to 15) at the Eiffel Tower Stadium.
”Congratulations to the beach volleyball athletes who are ready to serve excellence on a sandy stage at Paris 2024. Their agility and versatility, combined with their ability to transition from attack to defence with exceptional fluidity and speed, promise thrilling matches at the foot of the iconic Eiffel Tower,” said Bruny Surin, Team Canada’s Paris 2024 Chef de Mission. ”I look forward to supporting these teams in the festive atmosphere of the Olympic Games. Go Canada, attack with precision and defend with finesse!”
Team Canada’s beach volleyball team for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games also includes the following coaches and support staff:
Ryan Aktari (Toronto, Ont.) – Team Manager
Andrew Cochran (Toronto, Ont.) – Strength and Conditioning Coach
Guilherme de Britto Pereira Tenius (Redondo Beach, USA) – Assistant Coach for Humana-Paredes/Wilkerson
Michael Gervais (Redondo Beach, USA) – Mental Performance Consultant
Kerry MacDonald (Calgary, Alta.) – Team Leader
Ashwin Patel (Guelph, Ont.) – Mental Performance Consultant
Nicole Sullivan (Toronto, Ont.) – Team Physiotherapist
Marcio Scioli (Hermosa Beach, USA) – Head Coach for Humana-Paredes/Wilkerson
Daniel Sinclair (Warkworth, Ont.) – Mental Performance Consultant
Jackie Skender (Ottawa, Ont.) – Media Attache
Srdjan Veckov (Toronto, Ont.) – Beach Coach for Bansley/Bukovec and Schachter/Dearing
Prior to being named to Team Canada, all nominations are subject to approval by the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Team Selection Committee following its receipt of nominations by all National Sport Organizations.
The latest Team Canada Paris 2024 roster can be found here.
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MEDIA CONTACTS:
Jackie Skender
Volleyball Canada
C: 613-794-7676
E: jskender@volleyball.ca
Tara MacBournie, Program Manager, Sport Communications
Canadian Olympic Committee
C: 647-522-8328
E: tmacbournie@olympic.ca