In any office setting, you can find a cubicle with a calendar. On that calendar might be a picture of an exotic beach—a reminder of what lies beyond the computer monitor, or maybe a motivator for an upcoming vacation to escape the routine.
For Solvang resident and Olympic gold medalist in beach volleyball Todd Rogers, that beach is his office, and, like every hard worker, he needs his vacations, too.
“I treat volleyball as my job,” Rogers explained. “I love what I do and feel very fortunate that my office is a beach somewhere in the world, but to me it’s how I make my money. It’s still a job.”
With the 2012 London Olympics right around the corner, Rogers—along with his partner Phil Dalhausser—is back to the grind, training and competing in preparation to take another gold medal for the United States.
Just two weeks ago, Rogers was in Brazil, playing against some of the best beach volleyball players around the world and preparing to travel to China for another tournament. Since he’s been back in the States, he’s been training in Santa Barbara, getting into Olympian shape. He’s been building up his cardio by running five 440-yard sprints at 75 to 80 seconds each, with two-minute breaks in between.
At 38 years old, Roger said he feels no pressure defending Dalhausser’s and his title as world champions. In August, Rogers underwent surgery on his knee to take out pieces of torn meniscus, and after competing and winning in Brazil, he’s confident his knee won’t give him any problems.
In June, Rogers will leave for Europe, where he’ll stay until the Olympics in July. Before the big event, he’ll compete in Switzerland, Berlin, and Austria. By the end of those three tournaments, Rogers said, it will be time to head to London.
“I don’t really feel any pressure,” Rogers said. “Before I won in 2008, I’d pretty much won every tournament that I’ve ever wanted to win domestically and internationally … except for an Olympic medal. After winning that, I could have easily retired, but I was having a lot of fun.”
This article appears in May 3-10, 2012.