World champion Meeuwsen bids farewell to competitive sport in front of ecstatic crowd

Everyone knew that the CEV EuroBeachVolley 2024 would have coincided with the last tournament played by Dutchmen Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen. The only thing which was not clear beforehand was when they would play their last match together. This happened earlier this week when Brouwer/Meeuwsen lost to their countrymen Steven Van de Velde and Matthew Immers, for whom they had been role models and hometown heroes for quite some time. 

On Sunday afternoon, shortly before the medal matches, the Dutch fans had the opportunity to pay tribute to Robert Meeuwsen and to his outstanding career, with a projection of images displaying the key milestones, starting obviously with their sensational gold medal run at the 2013 World Championships in Stare Jablonki, Poland. 

It was somehow fitting and truly special that Brouwer/Meeuwsen contested their last competitive match against their training partners – the very same boys that by following in their footsteps had eventually overtaken their idols in the world rankings and prevented Brouwer/Meeuwsen from making it to a third Olympics by securing the second country quota for the Netherlands at Paris 2024. 

Meeuwsen has made it clear that he is retiring from competitive Beach Volleyball, even though he is still due to compete at a King & Queen of the Court event in Utrecht. On the other hand, his long-time partner and friend Brouwer does not yet know whether he will quit or continue. Brouwer and Meeuwsen have been playing together for 14 years and on Sunday afternoon, Meeuwsen received a well-deserved standing ovation before Brouwer joined him on the court for an emotional tribute. 

“We did meet here on the beach of Scheveningen. Therefore, it feels like we have gone full circle,” Meeuwsen said this week. Their domestic rivals Van de Velde and Immers deserved kind words and expressed their gratitude. Immers was sitting in front of the television as a little boy when Brouwer and Meeuwsen became world champions in 2013, expressing the wish that he wanted to achieve the same feat one day. “These boys are my heroes, my idols. By the score of 14-9 I had a lump in my throat and was a bit upset,” Immers revealed after his win. 

Meeuwsen was honoured by the Dutch Volleyball Federation (Nevobo) and the municipality of The Hague for his services to Beach Volleyball with a lifetime achievement award. “It is great that I can say goodbye here. I started here, this is where I met my love, we live here, and we will never leave here again. I want to thank many people for what I have been able to experience, including my family, and of course Alex. Man, what a journey we have made together. It feels quite strange to stop after so many years, but the circle is complete,” Meeuwsen said.