Canadian volleyball pairs set to hit the (fake) beach in London

The London Olympics' beach volleyball competitions won't be played on an actual beach. However, they may be an even more memorable experience for Canadians Martin Reader, Josh Binstock, Marie-Andree Lessard and Annie Martin as a result. As Neil Davidson of The Canadian Press points out, the beach volleyball venue's a 15,000-seater stadium set next to the famed Horse Guard Parade (which dates back to 1745 and has a proud military history), and it's close to such other notable areas as the Old Admiralty Building, St. James's Park, the Household Cavalry Museum, Scotland Office and the Guards Memorial. 5,000 tonnes of sand had to be trucked in from a quarry in Godstone, Surrey to construct this fake beach, but the net effect is a remarkable and unique venue that the Canadians are already enjoying.

Most sand may seem similar to many, but that's not the case in beach volleyball. The depth, graininess and specific other characteristics of individual sand setups can dramatically affect the game, so athletes are quite concerned with what the actual surface is like. In London, the fake beach may actually help, as there's a uniformity to the court that isn't always present in a natural setting. Binstock certainly sounds impressed with it from the comments he made in his Olympic journal, writing that "The quality of the sand is the best I've ever experienced in terms of the cleanliness, grain size and depth" and "The court itself was incredible."

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It wasn't easy for either of the Canadian pairs to get here. Both the men's and women's teams had to win tough team matches in Mexico just to give Canada a spot at the Olympics, and that set up July 7 battles against the other Canadian pairings to earn that spot. The Quebec-based pair of Lessard and Martin got off to a rough start in their contest against Ontario's Heather Bansley and Liz Maloney, losing the first set 21-17, but rebounded to claim the second and third sets by scores of 21-12 and 15-10. B.C.'s Reader and Ontario's Binstock were more dominant in their match against Alberta's Ben Saxton and Ontario's Christian Redmann, winning 21-18, 21-14, but it still was a close contest. There wasn't a lot of turnaround time for either pair, either, as they were the final Canadian athletes to qualify for London, topping even the others who cut it close.

There have been off-field challenges in the way of making it to the Olympics too, especially on the financial side, but these teams have found ways to get it done. Binstock and Reader are selling "London Calling" beach towels through Canadian store Canuck Stuff, and they've already held fundraisers featuring memorabilia from some of Binstock's old hockey teammates, including Raffi Torres and Mike Cammalleri. Meanwhile, Lessard claimed a $50,000 first prize in the Quebec reality show "Defie des Champions" with a double trapeze act and put those winnings towards her training. Both these squads have managed to make it to London, and that's impressive in its own right given the amount of worldwide talent in beach volleyball and the funding challenges they've faced.

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It's not going to be an easy tournament for either squad, though. Both the men and women are seeded 19th of 24 pairs and it's the first time at the Olympics for everyone but Martin, who competed in 2004. The fake beach will make for a different setting than your typical volleyball tournament, too, as it's surrounded with history and likely 15,000 hostile fans. That could particularly be the case for both teams' opening matches, which take place against the hometown squads; the men play the British pair of John Garcia Thompson and Steve Grotowski Saturday at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, while the women face Brits Zara Dampney and Shauna Mullin Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Eastern. These teams have found ways to overcome stiff obstacles thus far, though, and in a sport like beach volleyball where anything can happen, Canadians might just have more reason to tune in than merely the scenery.

More London Olympics content on Eh Game:
• Slideshow: The week's best Olympic photos
• Video: Michael Phelps 'annoyed' by wait for Games
• Canadians patriotism at odds with Summer Olympics interest
• Canadian volleyball pairs set to hit the (fake) beach in London