Beach Blog: Fort Qaibay, Knock-Outs and Ice Cream

Everything goes better with Ice Cream!  So, our day ended well, as 14 of us visited Fort Qaibay in downtown Alexandria.  Team trainer Mohamed Owieda hooked us up with a semi-private tour, ending with homemade Egyptian ice cream.

Mohamed, who goes by the nickname Army, lives in the New York City area, but was raised about an hour from Alexandria.  This magnanimous young man, in addition to being a very savvy athletic trainer, has gone way above and beyond to share the extras of the area.  Thanks, Army!

All of us had some healing up to do.  Today was a tough day in the sand.  I was wound up pretty tightly… not about our performance, but the system we are called upon to perform in.

I have personally witnessed the entire evolution of the Beach Wrestling style.  Our current S.O.P., under the UWW banner was developed in 2018.  It has a lot of positives and has helped the style gain global traction.

It also has some serious negatives.  These ‘trade-offs’ often benefit the technical presentation of the Beach World Series on social media.  I appreciate that.  Those same ‘trade-offs’ negatively impact athletes from every nation, every continent.  It’s not every athlete, every event.  Rather, it’s a roll of the dice that, when it gets us… gets us hard.

These events employ a “Knock-Out” round to create perfect groups of four, proceeding through round-robin competition toward the semis.  Athletes defeated in those knock-out bouts are eliminated instantly, while everyone else is guaranteed a minimum of three more matches.

This morning saw 10 knock-out matches.  Five Americans were eliminated.  Again, I’m not overlooking our performance, or the lack thereof.  There were five from other nations who were one-and-done, as well.

I’m condemning the system that condones and promotes the premise.  The same administrative leaders that beg us to, “Bring more athletes”, readily dismiss some to protect their broadcast schedule.  Please!  Don’t whine to me that our population is not growing!

If that weren’t enough… those same administrators lean the wrong direction when it comes to the ‘Fairness” of a blind draw.  The Beach Wrestling Series is unique in that we allow multiple entries per nation (each can enter up to three per weight) … Cool!

But then, the so-called ‘Blind’ draw can place all three of those entries in the same pool.  What?!  Or, with some ‘Luck’ a nation can put one in each pool, three in the semis, then win all three medals.  Seems to me, every nation should have equal access to that scenario.

Team USA and a couple of athletes from Argentina are the only delegations that crossed an ocean to get here.  Other nations spent an average of 300usd per person to fly.  Our tickets average five times that.

Granted, the notion of multiple entries per class is outside normal wrestling thought.  And I understand the knock-out rather mirrors the Olympic styles.  However, a first-round loser there has at least a chance to be dragged into repechage.

Enough!  The good part is that UWW’s Beach Commission meets here tomorrow.  Some of that body’s strongest members share these concerns.  I have faith they will bring them to the table.

I feel better now.  What I stared to tell you is that 13 of us just finished our ice cream.  It was a good day.

Ciao,

Rusty

Bedtime Friday night and the jet-lagged me is ready to sleep.  Thank goodness our resort hotel is hosting its second Egyptian wedding in as many nights!

The sound system in our back courtyard is magnificent and the view from our balcony allows us to watch well-dressed couples in both modern and traditional dance.  The music also allows me to stay awake long enough to write this.

We’ve got almost everyone in.  Still missing are Coach / Leader Ed Duncan and 60 kg Bre Stikkelman.  As one of many contributions to the sport and the style, Ed serves as the North American representative on United world Wrestling’s Beach Commission.  That body holds its annual meeting Monday, here in Alexandria.

Bre, on the other hand, is flying in from Belgrade after placing fifth, last night, in UWW’s Grappling World Championship.  Bre is another one of those stories we brag on in the so-called Developing Styles.

Stikkelman is no stranger to the sand.  She has represented the Red, White, and Blue on several world tours over the last decade.  She has also represented our nation on many Grappling tours.

As noted many times, the vast majority of American athletes in the non-Olympic styles are self-funded.  National governing bodies like USA Wrestling depend on USOPC funding for a chunk of their budget.  Hence the difference between the ‘Olympic’ and ‘non-Olympic styles.

Flights from any U.S. market to either Belgrade or Alexandria are quite pricey.  However, flights from an eastern European market like Belgrade to a Middle Eastern market like Alexandria can be surprisingly inexpensive.  Bre Stikkelman is one of those brave nomadic warriors that figures, “Two World Championship events for not much more than one… Why not?”

I’m not sayin’ every American wrestler has to double up like Bre Stikkelman does.  But aren’t you glad a few of ‘em do?

Ciao,

Rusty

Members of Team USA are trickling into Alexandria all day, tonight and Friday, for this last stop in the 2025 Beach World Series.  Logistically, Alexandria is a bit of a chore.

About half of our delegation chose to fly directly into Alexandria’s international airport.  The other half flew into Cairo and are taking various forms of ground transportation.   I’ve heard everything from two and a half to four hours.

Actually, that turns out to be a good thing for many of our athletes and referees.  For all its historical worth, Alexandria is not nearly the tourist draw that Cairo is.  I know several of our Americans are planning a couple of extra days in Cairo.

The Pyramids of Giza are always a notorious draw.  While, traditionally, there have been a handful of great museums to visit, that is currently not the case.  Cairo’s brand new Grand Egyptian Museum opens to the public on November 4^th.  Many of Egypt’s most noteworthy artifacts have been relocated to that new facility.

And then, as it turns out, our entire event is being housed at a fabulous resort.  The only downside is that the resort is a solid 45 minutes outside of Alexandria.  The way our meetings, workouts and competition sessions are scheduled, it’s unlikely many of us will get to visit any of the historical attractions of the Greek and Roman era.

On the upside, we will get to see some really good wrestling. As I mentioned yesterday, all the studs are here.

The majority of Team USA will trickle in tonight and tomorrow.  I know the tournament organizers and UWW credentialing staff are frustrated with us.  They have a difficult time understanding why a delegation our size doesn’t travel together.

I quit trying to explain our self-funded reality a couple of years back.  In its place I’ve substituted a lot of smiling and nodding, making sure I focus on Thank You's and Congratulations.  It seems to ease the tension.

So, I’ll bid you adieu and watch our trickle in continue.  Tomorrow, we’ll fine tune our preparation phase.  Saturday morning we’ll get ‘em all weighed in and let the good times roll.

Ciao,

Rusty

First off, CONGRATULATIONS to our Americans on their way home from the Veterans’ World Championship in Hungary!   These wrestling heroes demonstrate the passion that defines our sport.  Thank You!

Worthy of note, two of those heroes have walked in the sand of Beach Wrestling, which puts the exclamation point on its World Series this weekend.  Big guys, Mingo Grant and Gabe Beauperthuy have both contributed to the growth in popularity of the Beach discipline in USA Wrestling’s menu of opportunity.

Thirty-two Americans (including 19 athletes, coaches, referees, family, and supporters) are in the air today, on their way to Alexandria for the Grand Finale of United World Wrestling’s 2025 Beach World Series.  After four Ranking Events, Team USA has a handful of competitors in contention for podium appearances and paychecks.

As a lifelong teacher of Geography and History, it’s not lost on me the parallels these athletes share with Alexander the Great.  Just three weeks ago, many of these Americans wrestled in the same sand Alexander did, as a child.  Katerini, Greece hosted the fourth stop in the 2025 World Series, twenty minutes from Alexander’s childhood home.

Now we get to crown our 2025 champions in the best-known city named for the Macedonian King… Alexandria, Egypt.  In his march to the east, Alexander established this foundational port to free the movement of troops and trade across the Mediterranean.  Let’s note just how many world leaders have been in Egypt, this week, for pretty much the same reasons.

One favorite legend of Alexander’s young life is that of his final wishes.  Knowing he was mortally ill at a very young age, Alexander was quite specific in his funeral plan.

The first time I heard this story was in the wrestling room at the USOPC in Colorado Springs.  One of USAW’s icons, Coach Bruce Burnett was finishing up a training session with the USA Senior World Team.  The message Coach Burnett offered through that story hit home.  Everyone in the room was moved, each in his own way.

I’m gonna’ let you discover the details for yourself.  The point is that many of the virtues young Alexander imbued really define the mentality of our Beach Wrestling heroes.

Alexander’s teacher was Aristotle, who taught that there IS a world out there, and that it demands exploration and legitimate conquest.  Between the ages of 20 and 30, Alexander laid claim to most of world known in his day.

Most of Team USA range in age between 20 and 30.  Many have now laid claim to Beach Wrestling territory on five continents.  Hosting two events in 2025, along with next year’s Youth Olympic Games, Africa is the newest gem in UWW’s Beach Wrestling crown.

With rare exceptions, American Beach Wrestlers travel self-funded.  Like Alexander ordering that his riches be spread upon his final path, these young lovers of life give selflessly to add glory to our sport. 

The event itself looks good.  We’re right on the Mediterranean shore.  There are some really good cultural sites to visit near our hotels.  The weather looks perfect.  Most of our airports of origin seem to be surviving the ‘Shut Down’.

There are 95 total entries, spread over our eight weight classes.  Bracket sizes will be close to ideal.  And… Yes!  The studs are all there. 

Many of those studs, female and male, just happen to be American.  We’re gonna’ have to scrap, but it’s going to be an exciting finish.  I can guarantee readers that we will follow Alexander’s model.  We will conquer all we see, simply because we see it.

I’m off to board my first plane.  I’ll get you some snips and snaps once we get settled in Alexandria.  That is unless we miss our 55-minute sprint in Istanbul, in which case I’ll get you some notes on Turkish airport food!

Ciao,
Rusty