Next week’s Yucatán Challenge, the first major tournament of the 2025 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour season, will mark the first appearances of many beach volleyball teams formed after the conclusion of the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Among them will be Brazilian Olympians Carol Salgado and Rebecca Cavalcanti, who are set to start the tournament held at the Playa de Progreso from March 19-23 as the top-seeded duo in the women’s main draw.

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The two announced their union still in 2024, when Carol revealed she was splitting with longtime partner Bárbara Seixas and Rebecca saw her teammate, Rio 2016 Olympic medalist Ágatha Bednarczuk, retire from the sport.

Training together for less than two months, the Brazilians head to Mexico determined to get a good result, but also aware that more important than wins or losses right now is that they continue to build their team in the right direction.

“We have a long road ahead of us,” Rebecca told Volleyball World. “Starting in Mexico is great for us because it’s much like Brazil in terms of weather and time difference, but it won’t be easy. It will be the first tournament for many teams, but everybody wants to start on the right foot. We want to get a good result but also to keep growing as a team, so the more we play, the better.”

The two may have a little bit of a head start over the other teams in the Mexican event as, unlike most of their opponents, they already got to play in 2025. The two had a promising start together, winning the opening event of the Brazilian Tour in February after just three weeks of training and want to build from it.

“Winning never gets old,” Rebecca reacted. “It was our first tournament together and, as important as winning, was to have the opportunity to know each other a little bit better. We’ve been training for a couple of months, but there are things that you only get to experience in a match. It was great for us to understand how each other works on the court and how much we can help one another in difficult moments. Playing in Brazil before starting our journey on the Beach Pro Tour was very helpful and winning was even better as it gave us more confidence to keep working.”

In Mexico, they know, the stakes will be higher, as will the competition level. The two will be competing against 13 other players with Olympic experience, including Australian Taliqua Clancy, who took silver at the Tokyo Games.

“We always want to win,” Carol remarked. “But the level is very high and each year the Beach Pro Tour gets more competitive, with new teams coming up and others remaining on top. Our goal is to be among the best and bring medals back home, but never lose sight that challenges will come and that we’ll need to be patient to deal with them.”

If the team’s immediate goals are to improve its chemistry and earn a spot among the best teams on the Beach Pro Tour, while also qualifying for the 2025 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship, on the long term, Carol and Rebecca target the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

To get to compete in the Games for the second time – Carol played in Paris while Rebecca represented Brazil in Tokyo -, they will need to not only overcome strong international opponents, but also remarkable competition from the other many elite Brazilian teams, including reigning Olympic champions Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa and Ana Patrícia Ramos.

“This is obviously our main goal, but there’s a lot to happen until there,” Rebecca added. “Brazil always has high-level teams, so it’s important that we start well and stay among the top teams as that will secure financial support for our traveling and more serenity to work. The international scene is very open after Paris and I don’t know how the other teams will approach the Olympic race, so the best thing we can do is focus on us. We need to improve, mature and gain confidence because if we are at our best, we can play anyone.”

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