Colleges, volleyball

FORT LAUDERDALE — The post-match routine has become most important for John Hyden.

At 45, he no longer can recover quickly as his younger counterparts on the professional beach volleyball circuit. So he makes up for his age with preparation better than most.

After he teamed with Theodore Brunner to advance to the men’s quarterfinals of the Fort Lauderdale Major, it was immediately back to routine following their 14-21, 21-19, 18-16 victory Friday against fellow Americans Taylor Crabb and Jake Gribb.

“This [recovery] is going to be big,” said Hyden, the oldest player in the tournament. “I’m going to hit the ice bath for sure. Get some soft tissue work done and replenish with all the fluids and just rest.”

Hyden and Brunner will play Pedro Solberg and George Wanderly, of Brazil, today in the next round.

They will be joined in the quarterfinals by Americans Nick Lucena, who was born in Fort Lauderdale, and Phil Hausser. After defeating Brazil’s Guton Carvalhaes and Victor Felipe, they will face Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen of the Netherlands.

It was the second match of the day for Hyden and Brunner. They faced elimination in both, but survived to keep their run alive in the tournament.

Each victory adds more strain to Hyden’s body, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. He trains mostly in the gym instead of the beach because it helps with endurance. Most workouts consist of “tons” of squats.

“I guess I’m getting it done,” Hyden said. “I’ve been doing it for so long I kind of know what my body needs and how much I should go and how much I should eat, fuel and everything like that. My trainer hits it in the gym. … When I’m out here, you’re squatting all the time no matter what you’re doing. … He gets me ready however I need to get ready.”

Before Friday’s match, Hyden was introduced by the public-address announcer as “45 years young.” His ability to last has earned the respect of Gibb, who is still competing at 42.

“Age really isn’t a factor once you’re on the court,” Gibb said. “[We’re] wellconditioned so it doesn’t matter.”

Hyden’s work ethic has even trickled to his partner. Brunner, 32, has altered his training method just so he can keep up with his older teammate.

“It’s awesome,” Brunner said. “I’m trying to learn as much as I can. I feel like we still have a big ceiling and can keep going up. He does things a lot differently than a lot of the guys that I’ve played with.”

The next step for Hyden is deciding how long he wants to continue playing. Each year it changes, but it ultimately will be determined by how his body feels after every tournament. The goal is playing another two years.

“When I was like 40, I’m, used to say year to year,” Hyden said. “Now, it’s more like month to month, tournament to tournament. If my wife has anything to say about it, she’s going to say, going until the Olympics. We’ll see how I’m feeling. I feel pretty good. That’s kind of the goal. If I can handle it, I’ll shoot for the Olympics.”