DANA POINT, Calif. — At 8 a.m. last Thursday, Jennifer Kessy was ready for a morning workout at Doheny State Beach.
It’s the same beach she grew up playing beach volleyball at as a kid — before winning gold in the 2009 World Championships and silver in the 2012 Olympic Games.
“When I ride my bike, it’s the same bike path, it’s still that same exact feeling. You go down this little slope and it just reminds you of when you were a little kid,” Kessy said.
Kessy was at the beach in her white visor, sunglasses and USA tank top to show a small group of media what her morning workout routine is on behalf of Milk Life. I was there representing For The Win, and I was a little nervous. We weren’t told how intense it would be beforehand, and I had never played volleyball in my life.
The session started with breakfast of granola, and of course, milk.
While Kessy, 38, didn’t qualify for the Rio Olympics, she told FTW that she hopes this means she’ll get to stay home more often and compete in the local AVP tournaments.
Next, came the workout. Kessy took us through yoga exercises that she does often, then she showed off certain stretches that she does before games and practices that help keep her hips and shoulders limber. She also put us through a few ladder drills, lunges and more. We ended with volleyball drills in which Kessy patiently and very kindly walked us through how to serve and pass.
After I survived the workout, Kessy talked with FTW about best advice Jake Gibb gave her in 2012 before she won silver with April Ross in London, her best advice to anyone with dreams of one day playing beach volleyball in the Olympics and what she sees in her future beyond volleyball.
The interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
What fuels an Olympian beach volleyball player:
We’re obviously here with Milk Life, so if I was just gonna pick one, it’s gonna be milk, obviously — for so many reasons … It’s super easy, and the thing that I like about it is that I get all the protein that I need. As an athlete, to keep muscle on, you need that protein. To build muscle, you need that protein. I have to pack that in there, and for me, the easiest thing is to have one eight ounce glass and that’s it … Eating wise, if I had to eat something, I’d pick any fruit you could give me. I love kiwis, I love fresh mango, stuff like that.
Best workout tip:
For me, I see people at the gym and they’re sitting at their machine and they do five reps or 10 reps, and then they sit there, and they stay on the machine. And for me, to burn as many calories and to be as efficient as you can be with your time, let’s say you have one hour. You need to pick three machines, or three exercises, so you’ve got your leg extension, your leg curl and your shoulder press, and then you’re gonna pick a cardio. I’ll do 10 shoulder press, then I go directly to the leg extension, do 10 there, then I go directly to the leg curls, I do those. Then, I’ll go to the bike and do a minute sprint. I do that five times, and then that’s one circuit. By the end of that, you’re toast. That’s one. So then, you do one more and then you do another one, just keep it moving. I’m trying to burn as many calories as possible and trying to be efficient, the best tip I’ve gotten over the years is get your butt moving.
Favorite moment of her career:
I have two: 2009 we won the World Championship, which was a massive feat. It’s more teams than in the Olympics. There’s a country quota of four teams per country instead of two, so you have four of your best Brazilian teams, four of your best German teams, instead of two, so it’s a little bit more of a difficult tournament. It’s on less of a stage, so that makes it a little easier, but that was huge. To say that I’m World Champion was fantastic.
And then my favorite moment was after we won the semifinal match against Brazil, I got to walk out and see my family after meeting with all the media and talking to everyone, my family, my friends, April’s (former partner April Ross) family and friends were waiting outside in the rain for us, and we just embraced and hugged and all of us cried. That’s truly the best sports moment.
(AP Photo/Alf Ove Hansen, Scanpix)
Who inspires her the most:
I can’t tell you an athlete. That’s not something I’ve really, I’ve admired other athletes and what they do and tried to model myself a little after certain athletes and stuff like that, but I’ve never been the one like oh Michael Jordan, and I need to have his poster in my room. I’ve just never been that person. I would say it’s gotta be my family and friends. I know that’s also a little cliche, but it’s totally true. They want to see me do well. I want to make them proud, and then just kind of inner — myself, that drive to be playing the sport that I love. Why wouldn’t you want to keep going? If you love your job, you don’t want to retire.
Best advice she has ever received:
The toughest advice I was ever given was to lose 15 pounds, and it wasn’t made to be harsh. I know women have a hard time with it, and I do. I did. I was offended when I heard it. It was in 2008, and it was not exactly like, “Lose 15 pounds,” it was like, “Hey, you need to get in better shape.” It was after the Olympics. It was after we missed out on Beijing by a very small margin. I was like what can we do to never let this happen again, and it was get in better shape … And we won the World Championship in 2009, so it was good advice.
Some other advice, I asked Jake Gibb, he’s going to the Olympics. It’s his third time going to the Olympics, he’s a beach volleyball player. I asked him when we got to London, “What was some advice, since you were in Beijing? What’s some advice that you could give me?” He said, “Win a medal, because no one cares if you just go to the Olympics.” So, well, I took that advice, and we won a medal. That was also some good advice that he gave us — straight-forward, nobody cares in the U.S. if you just go.
Thoughts on beach volleyball being recognized as an NCAA sport:
It’s gonna change the face of American beach volleyball, that’s for sure. We’re going to have a lot of athletes that are trained very specifically. Beach was always, you came out after indoor, and you were just natural, and this was what you did. Now, people are being trained only in beach volleyball. They’ve never played indoor, so it’s very interesting to see how this is going to change. We’re going to have some unbelievable talent. I would say in 10 years — not that we’re not dominant now — we’re going to be very dominant to where we have three teams on the podium in World Championships like Brazil does because this is what they do. They play from when they’re kids, and they don’t play indoor. They don’t play college. This is what they’re doing, so if this is happening, this is absolutely extraordinary. I hope for men, it can become this too, but for women right now, we’re in a huge advantage over the rest of the world, really.
What advice she’d give to other up-and-coming beach volleyball players:
I always wanted to go to the Olympics. Even as a child as a gymnast. I watched every Olympics. Also, some advice, watch all the Olympics. Watch every sport you can get. Watch the stories. See what these other athletes have gone through. Realize that it’s not easy. Rarely do you hear Bob Costas saying, “It was so easy for her. She had both her parents, they were easy, they had a lot of money.” That’s not the stories that you hear. You’re hearing the stories that these people have struggled that they’ve had adversity, they’ve had death in their families. It’s hard, and really, really realize that most of the days you’re gonna leave thinking, “Oh my god, that’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” Then, you realize, “Oh my god, I get to play beach volleyball,” so I think just watching all those stories. And becoming engrossed in the Olympics and having these dreams and of course, going to college. That would help. Get into college and play there. That would be your first step, and play as much as you can. Play, play, play, play, play, play, play, play, play.
(Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports)
On retirement:
I mean, I would love to have a baby, but that doesn’t always happen right away. It’s not as easy for some people. The first time for us, it’s so hard, but you just don’t know, and I don’t want to be the person that says, “This is it. I’m retired,” and then I’m coming back. I just don’t want to do that. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it’s just not what I want to do. I also don’t want to put more pressure on me trying to have a baby, or why are you retired? You’re not retired, you’re having a baby. And all this kind of stuff. I’ve never played just AVP, either. So I would love to just do that. It would be amazing to just play on the home soil. Be at home for more weekends, not travel the planet. That would also be really great and the AVP has been so great supporting me over the years. I would love to do that.
On her future beyond volleyball:
I do. I think about the future a lot. I don’t see myself coaching. I like it, but it takes just as much travel and just as much time away from my family as I think playing does, and then you have no control over it. Being someone that likes to have control over my destiny, I always have with beach volleyball, I don’t think I see myself doing that. Maybe a bit of sideline reporting here and there, if they want me to, if my skin looks good enough. I’m just not sure. I’d like to sell real estate down here. I love homes. I love renovating homes. We’ve remodeled our entire house, and we’re doing another one. That’s kind of stuff I’d really like to do, and I wonder, sometimes I think when I’m retired I won’t ever look at another volleyball, I don’t know. But that’s also because I’ve been playing for so long. Maybe after a couple months I’d want to play. When I was pregnant, I definitely missed it, so we’ll see.
More Olympics!
5 countries wildly unimpressed with the state of the Olympic Village
9hr ago
Everything you need to know about canoeing before the 2016 Olympics
12hr ago
Olympic official: Most of the Olympic Village hasn’t passed safety tests
1d ago