Schachter’s Dreams of Olympic Glory Aren’t Over Yet

Sam Schachter will never forget the feeling of being in the tunnel, waiting to hear his name announced, before taking to the sand and making his Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Games. The Canadian beach volleyball star has a lot of special memories from those Olympics but they don’t include walking in the Opening Ceremonies. Due to the pool play schedule for Schachter and his then-partner Josh Binstock, the pair didn’t get to join in the rest of Team Canada for those festivities. It’s a dream that is far from over for Schachter. Although none of the Canadian men’s beach teams managed to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Games, the 31 year old says he isn’t done yet and will be making another run at qualifying for the 2024 summer games in Paris.

“It’s a dream that every athlete aspires to, getting to participate in a multi-sport games that celebrates amateur athletes. You feel like you are really part of the larger Canadian contingent and getting to share that experience with family and friends and people across the country is so special. I do want to continue to play and hope to get my chance to walk in the opening ceremonies.”

This would mark the fourth Olympic cycle the Ontario native has been competing in. Schachter says he’s grown up and learned a lot since first making the national team back in 2008.

“The biggest thing I’ve learned is how much work needs to be done off the court. 99 percent of the training happens off court, behind the scenes. When I was younger I was intense on the court and committed to focus on the court, but off the court I didn’t have the same level of focus. I’ve been playing on the tour for over 10 years. Now I really organize my life and my practices as well as my mental training.”

Schachter credits his most recent beach partner Sam Pedlow with teaching him a ton about focus and how to approach training.

“l learned a lot from Pedlow. He’s an incredibly hard worker and a consummate professional. It was just really fun to work with someone who operated at such a high level that way.”

Schachter and Pedlow paired up after Josh Binstock retired following the 2016 Olympics. The pair had plenty of successes leading up to the Tokyo games, but like so many other athletes, their goal of Olympic qualification was complicated by the pandemic. Calling it the “most challenging Olympic cycle ever”, Schachter and Pedlow found it difficult to compete in a number of events due to the quarantine rules put in place.

“It was such an unusual process trying to qualify with covid breaking the normal rhythm of a cycle. We were trying to build to a specific point in time and it’s tough when that rhythm gets interrupted.”

In the end, the Canadians would have to battle for one last qualification berth at the Continental Cup in Mexico. Ahead of the competition, Schachter and Pedlow spent two months training in Florida in an effort to prepare for the kind of heat they would face in the tournament host city of Colima. But they couldn’t have predicted the weather conditions they would face at tournament time – torrential rain, high winds and chilly temperatures, made playing their best incredibly difficult. Schachter and Pedlow would fall short against the Mexican team of Josue Gaxiola and Jose Luis Rubio. The Mexicans would also go on to defeat Canada’s other beach contenders of Ben Saxton and Grant O’Gorman, thus leaving Canada without any men’s beach teams in Tokyo.

“It was tough. All these years you are building up to prepare for that moment. It’s almost indescribable, what you’re left feeling after something like that. We are both heartbroken. It’s even more devastating when you’re convinced you could do it and you had what it takes to make it. When you fall short, it’s tough.”

It’s an experience that Schachter will need a little time to recover from. The loss still feels very fresh, and so he’s taking a few months break to take a breath, enjoy summer and cheer on the Canadian beach women’s teams as they go for gold in Tokyo. The 6 ft 5 defender, however, will be looking at different partnership opportunities in the future.

“I need to see where everyone sits in terms of their commitments or any retirements. But there is a lot of talent out there. This cycle I’m going to use a different assessment tool when it comes to the partner that I will be choosing. I will be looking at the complete package.”

Right now, Schachter also has another thing on his mind…and that’s making some money. Funding training, travel and competitions has always been a challenge for beach athletes and the pandemic has only made it worse. Schachter says he didn’t make any money on tour this year, so he’s got to use this time to focus on his financials. Part of that, is getting to pursue his passion for coaching. In addition to coaching high performance beach clinics back in Toronto, Schachter has taken on his first head coaching job, this one in indoor volleyball, as he takes the helm at George Brown College this September.