Reckermann reflects & relishes

As one of the most influential and impactful beach volleyball teams of the previous decade, Jonas Reckermann was quick to reflect on his partnership with Julius Brink as the German pair concluded their tenure together with an Olympic gold medal at the London 2012 Summer Games.

“We met each other directly after the Olympics in Beijing where Julius and Christoph Dieckmann competed,” said Reckermann, who missed qualifying for the 2008 Summer Games with Mischa Urbatzka.  “Julius and I did not talk about beach volleyball skills, but about fitting together.”

Reckermann, who had finished a disappointing ninth with Markus Dieckmann at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games after being seeded fourth in the competition, said “Julius and I were opponents for a long time and our characters have been and still are very different. It was a great partnership, focusing 100 per cent on the sport with high intensity in practise and competition.”

Prior to forming their partnership in late April 2009, the two Germans met 11 times against each other on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour with Reckermann winning six times. In the last three meetings, Brink and Christoph Dieckmann defeated Reckermann and Urbatzka twice during the qualification period for the Beijing Olympics.

“We both knew that London could be our last chance to compete in the Olympics,” said Reckermann, who started playing on the World Tour when he was 22 in 2001.  “We became world champions in our first year together (2009). This was great but difficult at the same time as our big goal was the 2012 Olympics and this early success contained the risk of losing focus.”

When asked why the partnership was so successful, the 41-year-old Reckermann said “we were a very heterogeneous team with great skill and so was our whole team (coaches). We did not want to change each other but to take out the best strengths of each member. We were hungry after each of our successes, very hungry.”

Todd Rogers, who teamed with American partner Phil Dalhausser to win both an Olympic (2008) and World Championship (2007) gold medal together, said Brink and Reckermann were the "best serving team on the planet in their heyday. They were also a top three if not the top first ball side out team on the planet. Combine the two together and when they were on their game, they were difficult to beat as evidenced at London 2012 and the 2009 Stavanger World Championships."

When asked about his three most memorable matches with Brink, Reckermann first cited a 2009 Grand Slam final in Moscow against Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos  “We were up 14-7 in the third and deciding set,” said Reckermann, “and I then missed six side outs in a row.”

Seeded first in the Moscow event, Reckermann and Brink scored a 2-1 (24-26, 21-18 and 16-14) win in 74 minutes over the third-seeded Brazilians as the Germans tied Emanuel’s record of 22-straight World Tour match wins in 1999 with Jose Loiola. In the deciding set, four blocks by Ricardo helped the Brazilians to tie the score at 14-14.

“It was always great to compete with Emanuel,” said Reckermann as he and Brink’s Moscow win was the fourth of four-straight victories over the Brazilian pair.  “Emanuel’s attitude and spirit always made his partners better. There were a lot of tough matches against him and Ricardo or Alison (Cerutti).”

A four-time European champion, including two with Brink, Reckermann noted that “any random match at Euro 2012 in Scheveningen (The Netherlands, May 30-June 3) was memorable. I came back from a long-lasting injury, we just wanted to play some matches to get some competition. The weather was horrible, I still had pain and Julius was a little bit worried as we were not in the best shape, just a couple of weeks before the Olympics. We were not able to play our best beach volleyball but stood together as a team and won gold. This gave us a lot of confidence for the Olympics.”

Finally, Reckermann mentioned the 2012 Olympics by saying, “okay, there would be something wrong if I did not pick the gold medal match in London, especially after winning 16-14 after being up 14-11 in the third and final set.”

The London match was the ninth match between the two teams with Emanuel and Alison prevailing five times with a four-match winning streak over Reckermann and Brink entering the 2012 Olympic gold medal match. A year earlier in the semifinals at the Rome World Championships, Emanuel and Alison defeated the Germans 2-0 (21-15, 21-15).

In addition to Emanuel and his pairing with Ricardo and Alison, Reckermann noted two other formidable opponents - Rogers/Dalhausser and Russians Dmitri Barsouk/Igor Kolodinsky. Reckermann and Brink won three of four FIVB matches with the Russians while trailing Rogers and Dalhausser 9-4.

“The Americans were great characters, iconic style and such a perfect team with the brains of Rogers and monster in Dalhausser,“ said Reckermann. “Dmitri was one of the smartest guys on the court and Igor one of the hardest servers.”

Although competing in four full-time seasons together, Reckermann and Brink compiled an impressive 205-55 match mark (78.9 winning percentage) together for 42 World Tour and European events. The Germans posted a 162-46 (77.9%) FIVB record for 33 events and 43-9 (82.7%) mark for nine CEV tournaments.

Overall, Reckermann and Brink won eight gold medals together with five World Tour titles. The pair appeared on 27 podiums for 42 overall events with five World Tour crowns and 21 medals.

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