Gregg Weaver is fully aware that the next two months could make-or-break his dream of competing at the Olympics for Great Britain this summer.
The beach volleyball player, who is from Poole but lives and trains in California, has partnered Gloucester’s Jody Gooding in the sport since 2007.
The duo achieved the best result by any British men in history when finishing 13th in the FIVB World Tour final in Quebec, Canada in 2011.
However, there place at London 2012 is far from guaranteed and they face stiff opposition from John Garcia-Thompson and Steven Grotowski, as well as Robin Miedzybrodzki and Tom Lord, for the one quota place in the men’s event that Great Britain have by virtue of being the host nation.
Weaver and Gooding are currently training with their coach Scott Davenport at their training base at Hermosa Beach in Los Angeles ahead of the start of the new season.
“Our next tournament is in Brazil, and that is when the battle for a London 2012 place will go up a notch,” Weaver told the Bournemouth Daily Echo.
“There are about 20 tournaments over two years but the points you accrue in your best 12 results go towards Olympics qualification.
“The likelihood is there will only be one male GB beach volleyball team at the Olympics – and we are tied for first with another team at the moment.
“Our remaining tournaments start in April and we will compete in Brazil, Poland, China, Prague and Rome during a busy seven-week timeframe.
“These take place from the third week in April and it is going to be a race between us and the other British duo for a dream spot at the Games.”