Last American Podium Sweep 

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, January 31, 2021 - Six countries have combined to claim gold on the men’s and women’s FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour podiums at a same event, and the last American teams to accomplish the feat did so this week in FIVB beach volleyball history. 

Three years ago in Australia, the American tandems Amanda Dowdy Lawson/Irene Pollock and Avery Drost/Chase Frishman earned spots on the same Shepparton podium on February 4, 2018. The gold medals were also the first and only World Tour titles for each team. 

Seeded fourth in the 2018 Shepparton Open, Lawson and Pollock posted a 2-1 (19-21, 21-15, 15-7) semifinal win over top-seeded Shaunna Polley/Kelsie Wills of New Zealand before defeating seventh-seeded compatriots Caitlin Ledoux/Jace Pardon 2-1 (21-17, 18-21, 15-12) in the 49-minute gold medal match. 

After posting a pair of qualifying wins to gain a spot in the Shepparton money rounds, the 14th-seeded Drost and Frishman won their next five main draw matches highlighted by final four victories over two Australian teams starting with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-16) semifinal win over second-seeded Cole Durant/Zachery Schubert. 

In the men's finale against defending Shepparton champion and top-seeded Christopher McHugh and Damien Schumann, Drost and Frishman scored a 2-0 (21-17, 21-15) gold medal win in 34-minutes over the Australians. 

While Lawson and Pollock were playing in their fifth of 15 FIVB events together and Drost and Frishman were competing together in an international event for the first-time. Drost and Frishman also became the 16th men’s team in 373 World Tour events to win an event gold medal after advancing from a qualifier. 

Since the start of FIVB-sanctioned events in 1987, there have been 79 World events where the winning men’s and women's teams were the same country, including 15 such occasions for the United States. Brazilian pairs lead the way with 60 sweeps on the World Tour. Austria, China, France and Russia have each posted one podium sweep.