So are ANY beach volleyball tandems from last season staying together?

I mean, good grief.

Jānis Šmēdiņš and Mārtiņš Pļaviņš (photo credit: FIVB)

This up-and-coming Latvian duo is the latest to part ways. Seriously guys, what the hell?

Šmēdiņš will now play with Aleksandrs Samoilovs, a former partner for Pļaviņš, interestingly enough. Pļaviņš’ new partner is Jānis Pēdā, a player converting from indoor for the first time in 2013. Fellas, you did really really really well together. You don’t need the other’s sloppy seconds and a rookie!

But let’s recap, shall we?

At the London Olympics, the most storied beach volleyball partnership in Olympic history and arguably the sport’s entire history ended, as Misty May-Treanor bid farewell to the sport and her partnership with Kerri Walsh Jennings after the team won their third consecutive gold medal. This one was no shock — we knew ahead of time that the Olympics were it for Misty, and I think we all, even her competitors to a certain extent, were happy to see this duo go out on top. We also knew ahead of time that it wasn’t the end of the road for Kerri, and that remains an interesting story to follow.

A couple of months later, right about when the FIVB World Tour was coming to an end, news surfaced that Misty and Kerri’s chief rivals Larissa and Juliana were also splitting, and likewise Brazil’s probably second-best pairing Talita and Maria. This was surprising, but understandable given that Larissa wanted to take time off to start a family. I remain hopeful that she follows Kerri’s example and only misses a little bit of time (though she has said she’s definitely taking 2013 off). I hope she’ll be there in Rio. Juliana and Maria have since joined forces, but I still don’t know where this leaves Talita. While they aren’t household names, unlike most of the other teams named in this article, the Swiss duo of Nadine Zumkehr and Simone Kuhn were one of only 7 to win a gold medal on last year’s FIVB tour (they also took a bronze). And they’ll be splitting too, with Kuhn calling it quits effective after 2012.

It wasn’t as big a story, and in fact I don’t think I even wrote about it at the time, but USA’s top men’s beach pairing of Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers also ended their partnership this summer. You kind of had to expect this would happen. Rogers turns 40 later this year, and the team just weren’t as rock-solid in London as they were in Beijing. It was never likely that they’d hang on for Rio, at least not together. The interesting thing for me is that I, quite inadvertently, actually covered their final match together, though their best match from that Poland tournament came two days prior. Rogers continues in 2013 with Ryan Doherty, a 28-year old former baseball pitcher. At 7 feet tall, his skills should transfer over to the beach quite well, and he’s got one heck of a teacher with him. He played ten tournaments in 2012 with Casey Patterson. Hold that thought.

Dalhausser, newly 33 (meaning he can expect to make it to Rio still being a top professional), now partners with Sean Rosenthal. It should be a seamless transition for the Thin Beast, as Rosenthal has much the same physical makeup as Rogers, but hang on a second — didn’t Rosenthal win the FIVB points championship this season? Why yes, yes he did, with Jake Gibb — who now teams with Todd Rogers’ new partner’s old partner — Casey Patterson.

Anybody else’s head spinning?

Then of course just a couple of weeks back was the slightly somber news that Jonas Reckermann, incumbent Olympic gold medalist, was medically forced into retirement. We’ll still see him around, especially at matches with the Brink/Fuchs pairing on the court, but still it’s yet another partnership broken. And one of the few noteworthy partnerships that is remaining intact for next season, that of Jennifer Kessy and April Ross, appears bound to be broken ahead of 2014.

It’s a time of great upheaval and transition. The title of this post is half tongue-in-cheek, half exaggeration for exaggeration’s sake, because clearly plenty of smaller tandems remain together. Some of them will surely find glory in the 2013 season and beyond. But for goodness sakes, a little stability please!