Sandra Pires (centre left) with Brazilians Larissa Franca (left), Jackie Silva (centre right) and Juliana Felisberta Silva | After competing on the domestic and international Beach Volleyball circuits for the past two decades, legendary Brazilian Sandra Pires will retire from the sport after competing next month in the 2009 SWATCH FIVB World Tour season opener in Brasilia.
"I am getting tired," Sandra was quoted in saying via an article on an international wire service. "I have helped dozens of players make the transition from hard court volleyball to the beach. Now, I am the one who needs the care. I don't want to have to look after anyone else."
At the moment, Sandra's partner for April's Banco do Brasil Open presented by KIA is unknown, but the 20-time winner of FIVB-sanctioned Beach Volleyball events said, "Even if I lose in Brasilia, I am going to leave my all on the court."
The 35-year-old Sandra decided to leave the courts after playing with Larissa Franca in the first two Brazilian domestic events this season. Juliana Felisberta Silva, Larissa's regular partner, is still sidelined with a knee injury that required surgery and forced her out of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
The Brasilia stage of the SWATCH FIVB World Tour will be held April 20-26 for both men and women in Brazil's capital city. The season-opening event will be the first of 17 events for women and 16 for men on the 2009 calendar highlighted by the SWATCH FIVB World Championships presented by ConocoPhillips at the end of June in Stavanger, Norway.
A three-time Olympian with gold- (Atlanta 1996 with Jackie Silva) and bronze-medal (Sydney 2000 with Adriana Samuels) finishes to her credit, Sandra has competed in 110 FIVB events with eight different partners with 52 podium placements and 65 "final four" finishes. For four seasons together on the SWATCH tour, Sandra and Jackie won 84.5 percent of their matches 142-26).
Sandra and Jackie were the top team during the early stages of the SWATCH FIVB World Tour as the pair never finished lower than fourth in 29 international starts together. The Brazilian pair won over US$500,000 together with a 12-6 record in gold-medal matches while finishing on the podium 28 times. SWATCH FIVB World Tour champions in 1995 and 1996, Sandra and Pires validated their Olympic title by captured the 1997 SWATCH FIVB World Championships in Los Angeles.
Sandra joined forces with Adriana at the start of the 1998 SWATCH season and the pair played together through the 2000 season. Sandra and Adriana (1998-23 events, 100-39 match record, two titles, 11 podiums and 17 "final fours") were fourth at the 1999 SWATCH FIVB World Championships in Marseille before claiming the Sydney 2000 bronze medal.
After playing with Tatiana Minello (2001, 12 events, 52-22, 2001 Goodwill Games gold medal and world championship runner-ups) and Leila Barros (2002, 11, 32-18) the next two seasons, Sandra teamed with Ana Paula Connelly in 2003 to pursue a spot in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
Highlighted by the 2003 SWATCH points championships, Sandra and Ana Paula qualified for the Olympics where they placed fifth. Due to injuries, Sandra and Ana Paula played in only 16 SWATCH events those two seasons with five gold medals, nine medals and an 81-17 match mark.
Sandra concluded her career by playing in 14 events from 2005 through 2008 as she competed once with Ana Paula in 2007 as the pair finished seventh after qualifying for the Main Draw at a Brazilian SWATCH stop in Fortaleza where both of their setbacks were in three sets to American Olympians in Beijing Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs.
In becoming the first woman from her country to win an Olympic gold medal with Jackie, Sandra was honored by her nation's Olympic Committee at the Sydney 2000 Games to be the first women to carry the Brazilian flag into the opening ceremonies.
In winnings two Brazilian tour titles (1995 with Jackie and 1998 with Adriana), Sandra was also proclaimed the Brazilian Queen of the Beach three times (2000, 2001 and 2009). Sandra won over 1,000 domestic and international matches and she and Jackie were considered by FIVB as the best women's Beach Volleyball players in the world in the 1990s.
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