Beating beach legends Walsh, May-Treanor a tall order
Being 6-foot-3 myself, I can feel Kerri Walsh's pain.
Like me, the 6-foot-3 beach volleyball star has a hard time finding pants.
"Especially stuff for working out," Walsh said. "All the sweat pants out there are like three inches too short on me."
Walsh's next goal in life? To design active and lounge clothes - for all women, but particularly tall women. Her line, which has a name (K-Active) but isn't quite ready for launch yet, will offer pants with inseams as long as 37 inches.
"It's going to be great to get that off the ground," the 29-year-old Walsh said. "I can't wait."
Walsh also can't wait to start a family. She says that she and beach volleyball star husband Casey Jennings are ready for kids now.
Ditto for Walsh's longtime partner Misty May-Treanor and her husband, which means that the most dominant team in the history of women's beach volleyball will soon be out of commission.
Temporarily, anyway.
Both Walsh and the 30-year-old May-Treanor, who have finished atop the Association of Volleyball Professionals Tour each season since they began playing together six years ago, plan to take at least the next year off.
The good news for Chicago beach fans is that maternity leave hasn't beckoned yet. Walsh and May-Treanor, along with the rest of the players on the AVP Crocs Tour, will be in Chicago next weekend (Friday through Sunday) for the McDonald's Chicago Open presented by Nautica at Oak Street Beach.
Walsh and May-Treanor have never lost in Chicago and will be looking to keep that streak going.
Beyond that, the two will look to win their second consecutive Olympic gold medal at the Summer Games in Beijing before riding off into motherhood.
"Misty and I are both on the same page," Walsh said. "We're at the same point in our lives and we're both ready to start a family. After Beijing, I think that's what we'll do.
"But we both also want to try to balance a family with our career. We both want to come back because we love our jobs."
Walsh says that not only would she and May-Treanor leave together, they'd come back together as well, and resume their partnership.
"I can't imagine playing with anyone else but Misty," Walsh said. "I want to keep competing and I know she does, too. I feel that our best years are yet to come."
Yikes. What have the previous years been?
Since 2003, Walsh and May-Treanor have won titles in nearly 80 percent of the AVP tournaments they've played in, and have pocketed more than $800,000 each. They've also had similar success at the international level on the FIVB Tour, winning more than half of the tournaments they've enter.
This year on the AVP Tour, the dynamic duo has not lost.
"Are you knocking on wood for me?" Walsh joked. "There are always things for us to work on, but we have had a pretty good run, and we are riding high.
"We work well together. I just love everything about playing with Misty. Absolutely everything. She's just a great girl and a good friend of mind. We have so much fun, and we win. She's one of the best players in the world and by playing with her, she makes me better. I think we make each other better and I think that's what makes us special."
Walsh says that she and May-Treanor desperately want a special ending for Round One of their partnership together. They want that gold medal.
"No one has ever won back-to-back Olympic gold medals in our sport before," Walsh said.
"Misty and I absolutely want to do that. We've been working so hard and we've shifted into fifth gear. We're really excited by our chances."
A look at the locals: Two area players will be competing in the AVP's tournament in Chicago next week.
Lorelee Smith from Joliet is the head volleyball coach at Lewis University, while Cayley Thurlby from Lisle graduated from Naperville Central.