Britain's beach volleyball stars will be hoping to impress fans at this week's Olympic test event at Horse Guards Parade in London.
Dampney 'excited' ahead of Horse Guards Parade feature event
Britain's beach volleyball stars will be hoping to impress fans at this week's Olympic test event at Horse Guards Parade in London.
The iconic landmark will host next year's event but the upcoming six-day tournament is set to give supporters a hint of what to expect in 12 months' time.
The FIVB Beach Volleyball International will see 24 teams from around the world compete including two British teams looking to claim a berth at next year's Games.
But while the world's top three teams are absent, top-ranked Brits Zara Dampney and Shauna Mullin still face a strong field that includes China and America.
Damney and Mullin are in pole position to play in London next year, but the second British pairing of Denise Johns and Lucy Boulton may still usurp them before selection.
"The spots won't be confirmed until July next year so there's still a long way to go," said Dampney.
"We've still got three more events this year and then a whole eight events before the Olympics next year, so we definitely can't relax and we want to get there in our own right, which means we've got to climb a couple more spaces."
Based close to The Mall, Downing Street and the Cabinet War Rooms, the beach volleyball venue is an arresting sight, but what is on display this week is just one-tenth of what fans will enjoy next summer.
Atmosphere
A temporary 1,500-seater venue is in place for the test event but that will swell to 15,000 next year. Organisers could have crammed in double that number such was the clamour for tickets for what became one of the Games' most oversubscribed events.
"We're really excited," Dampney continued. "We turned up yesterday and it was the first time we'd seen the venue mostly finished.
"Just seeing the set-up and getting a nice feel for it, it's got a really nice atmosphere."
Mullin added: "I think the fact that England hasn't really been exposed to beach volleyball at a high level is something that obviously we're quite sad about, but this is a great opportunity to change that around.
"I think the fact that people have got involved and the tickets have all sold out is absolutely amazing for us because it means that there are people interested in the sport and want to get to know it before the main event."
The pair have teamed up with online bookmaker Betfair in a unique sponsorship agreement that will see them sport a 'matrix barcode' on their bikini bottoms, which when photographed on a compatible phone will take users direct to a website via a so-called Quick Response code.
