Press release

At 36 years of age Nummerdor is three years younger than his teammate, but they are among a number of players over 35 who are in action at Horse Guard’s Parade.

Emanuel Rego is a current world champion and on the hunt for a second Olympic gold at 39. His former partner Ricardo Santos is 37, defending Olympic champion Todd Rogers turns 39 in September and the Czech Republic’s Premysl Kubala and Petr Benes are 38 and 37 respectively.

“I still love the sport,” Nummerdor said. “That is the drive for playing in stadiums like this. That is why I work hard and have the drive. It is just a privilege to play. As long as we can play and compete at this level we’ll keep on playing.”

Despite their advancing years Nummerdor and Schuil are enjoying a stellar season on the FIVB SWATCH World Tour. They won gold in Beijing and Klagenfurt and silver in Moscow.

At the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games they started in strong form, but ran out of steam by the quarter-finals where they lost to Georgian pair Jorge ‘Gia’ Terceiro and Renato ‘Geor’ Gomes. So far in London they have won their first two matches and lost their third, but still reached the round of 16.

“You don’t have the rhythm like you have on the world tour, so it is a little different for every team,” Nummerdor said. “The first match was a fight and a struggle and we didn’t play that well, but we won. In the second game we played better, but it is going up and down a lot. We are feeling fine physically and mentally.

Tour experience

“I prefer to play more games, but everyone knows it is one match in two days, like in the world championships, it is the same so you have to get used to it.”

The duo are one of the most experienced pair on the Tour. Before moving to beach volleyball Schuil played volleyball for The Netherlands and won a gold medal at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics Games.

Between them they have nine previous Olympic Games under their belts, something which helps them avoid the initial nerves that have affected some of the younger teams.

“Every Olympics has the same tension and is difficult for everyone,” Nummerdor said. “It is my fourth Olympics and Richard’s fifth, so it helps in the first game.”

“With this partnership, it is a really good mix. I’m a totally different athlete from Richard. His strong points compensate my strong points and it works the other way around.”

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