Polish beach volleyball Olympian Grzegorz Fijalek recently announced the end of his playing career and bid his farewell to the sand courts at a ceremony at Poland’s Central Sports Complex for Olympic Preparation in Spala. Meanwhile, his partner since 2017, Michal Bryl, has teamed up with Bartosz Losiak and the new pair are training together in preparation for the upcoming Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour.

“Volleyball has been a huge part of my life,” the 34-year-old Fijalek said at the ceremony in Poland. “Now it's time to rest. I know that I am leaving the beach community in good hands because our youth is really very talented and hungry for success. I think this is the moment when I should make room for them.”

Fijalek was a three-time Olympian. With Mariusz Prudel as a partner, he finished fifth at London 2012 and 17th at Rio 2016. Fijalek and Bryl achieved a ninth-place result at Tokyo 2020, the 1.86m-tall defender’s last international tournament, news he revealed in a Volleyball World interview during the Olympics.

Alongside his two long-time partners, Fijalek claimed two golds, eight silvers and seven bronze medals on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. Those successes included a runner-up finish at the 2018 World Tour Finals in Hamburg. There were also four European Tour podiums, including two European Championship bronze medals.

“We played together with Mariusz for eight years. Together, we learned about our discipline and won our first awards. Then, when I joined forces with Michal, everyone told me that I would have to train him. However, I only taught him for the first year, and for the next three years he taught me. I thank him so much for that!” Fijalek added.

27-year-old blocker Bryl is already practising with his new partner, 29-year-old defender Bartosz Losiak, after the two joined forces for the new Olympic cycle within the framework of Poland’s Project: Paris 2024.

They have played against each other many times, but it will not be the first time they play on the same side of the net either, so they know each other well. As a duo, Bryl and Losiak reached the quarterfinals of the 2014 FIVB Beach Volleyball U23 World Championship in Myslowice and the semifinals of the 2016 Klagenfurt Major. They are now looking forward to their third international tournament together, which should also be their first appearance on the new Beach Pro Tour.

Michal Bryl’s first international success came at the 2012 U19 World Championship, where he and Kacper Kujawiak topped the podium. They repeated that achievement two years later in the U21 category, and in 2015 they picked up the trophy at the CEV U22 European Championship. Bryl’s World Tour record includes a Doha 2020 4-star gold in addition to four silver and two bronze medals.

“We are at the stage where we test every element,” Bryl told the Polish federation’s official video channel. “All I can say is that we are waiting for the first camps and the first tournaments. What awaits us? A tough season! Certainly, we expect to play at the highest level. First of all, we want to do well and stay there. Our most important goal this year will be the World Championship.”

Bartosz Losiak’s pairing with Piotr Kantor, his only previous long-term partner, is currently placed third in the FIVB World Ranking. They were three-time world champions and four-time European champions in various youth categories. They also collected three gold, six silver and six bronze medals on the World Tour. They played at the last two editions of the Olympic Games, and at their very last international event together, Losiak and Kantor claimed EuroBeachVolley 2021 bronze.

“Our new pair was established at the end of last year. We are in a preparatory period and we don't have any test games yet... We focus only on training and teamwork. There will be time for assessments maybe in a month, when we will have a camp and a chance to test against some foreign teams. I think we have to spend this year adapting together, and I think it will be fine,” said Losiak.

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