Estero's Brooke Sweat talks more of pairing with Kerri Walsh Jennings for 2020 Olympic bid

Coming off a May right rotator cuff operation, Southwest Florida's beach volleyball professional and U.S. Olympian Brooke Sweat thought very seriously about dialing it all way down.

"Right after the surgery, I wasn't sure where my heart was, what I wanted to do," said the 32-year-old Estero native and Canterbury School and Florida Gulf Coast University grad. "Do I really want to make a push for 2020 (Olympics) and play internationally and go through that?

"Or do I want to just go back to Florida and play domestically and just have fun?

"But during my first go into recovery, 'I'm not done. I want to go for it.' And then the call with Kerri and all of that. It's all falling into place and I feel like I'm right where I need to be. I'm ready to go for it."

"Kerri" is, of course, Kerri Walsh Jennings, the three-time Olympic gold medalist who with former partner Misty May-Trainer put beach volleball on the map. And when Sweat -- formerly Youngquist — talks of going for it, she means the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The decision was made a bit sooner, but the announcement of a long-term pairing between Sweat and Jennings came out Tuesday.

After Walsh offered and Sweat accepted a trial run, the pair decided to begin things in the p1440 event in Las Vegas Oct. 18-21. Originally, they were going to see how that went and decide on staying together. Then they stretched that to after a tournament in Mexico. But after diving into full-bore practices just last week on Hermosa Beach in California where they both maintain homes, Walsh and Sweat cemented the longterm deal early.

"We get along great on and off the court," Sweat said of the 41-year-old Jennings. "She's got a great family out here and actually we're really close to each other. She's obviously a very busy person and she handles everything with class and professionalism. I'm excited just to be around her. She just raises the level of everything.

"So when we get on the court there are no plays off. There's none of that. I always want to be the hardest worker on the court — practice or a match. Like, 'No one's going to outwork me.' But that's the same attitude Kerri has. So we're working pretty hard and it's nice to have that same mindset with the best blocker in the world. It makes my job a little easier on defense and I just think we kind of see the game the same.

"Obviously, we're still learning about each other, but it's happening very quickly."

Sweat is a 5-foot-8 defending whiz. In fact, Jennings told the Associated Press that Sweat is "literally a Jedi on defense." She has four times been named the AVP's Defensive Player of the Year. Sweat can't help but look up to the 6-3 Jennings who has led the AVP in blocks and hitting percentages in the same seasons. And although Jennings will be 42 if the pair can make their way to Tokyo in 2020 by becoming one of the top-two American teams after starting over at the bottom, Sweat has been blown away with Jennings' game.

"Oh, she's got it," Sweat said. "She reminds me of the Kerri when (former partner) Lauren (Fendrick) and I would play against her and April (Ross) in all the AVP finals maybe four years ago. Where she's just kind of unstoppable."

Jennings and Sweat had discussed teaming up in the past, but the timing was never right. 

"I didn't have a clear picture of what this process was going to look like, who my partner was going to be," Sweat said. "It was just a matter of waiting and getting on the sand with some people and figuring out who was the best fit.

"This is very cool. I think Kerri Walsh is beach volleyball. She and Misty (May-Treanor) made this sport what it is with what they've done. I'm so excited to hook up with her."

Sweat and Fendrick were seeded 13 of 24 teams in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 when Jennings and April Ross took the bronze. They lost all three preliminary matchups. But Sweat hardly was a full-go. She originally injured that right shoulder during Olympic qualifications. She played through that — even serving underhand for a time — in order to score qualifying points. She injured it again and had surgery that September. But that was only a clean-out procedure. The major surgery she needed would have held her out of Rio.

FGCU alum and Estero native Sweat having FIVB fun

Sweat and Fendrick last played together at Huntington Beach, California, in May when they placed fifth. Sweat, who reinjured the shoulder in March but tried to again play through, had her big surgery later that month. Soon after came "probably the most painful weeks of my life. Pain meds just didn't do anything."

Sweat, who came back to Estero for week-long visits but mostly rehabbed in California to be near her doctors, had to try to sleep sitting up for a month. She became exhausted. She "completely shut (volleyball) down," which she hated, but worked on her lower body and head.

"I learned how much I appreciate it," Sweat said. "It was nice to have a little break, but even when I was away from it — not being there physically — I was still studying the game and picking my brain, so hopefully I was still mentally sound and seeing the game and things I would normally see. That never shut off, really."

Family, friends excited for FGCU's Sweat

The rehab was supposed to last six months before Sweat could compete. But she's ahead of schedule. Las Vegas begins at the 5 1/2-month mark. Serious work began after 12 weeks.

"It's a process and a challenge to get back to training after being off for that long," Sweat said. "But I'm feeling good. I'm in the sand doing everything, playing at 100 percent minus my full power. Of course, for me, that's not what my game is based on. That will come with time and being in the gym and being comfortable using that."

Beach volleyball: Ex-FGCU star Brooke Sweat in position to make 2016 Olympic team

Jennings previously had shoulder surgery and that's been a huge benefit to Sweat.

"It's been nice to have her in case I have a question: 'Hey, I'm felling like this, were you ever like this?'" Sweat said. "It helps my confidence and she understands everything I'm going through mentally and physically. She knows exactly what I'm going through, so it's been really comfortable for me."

After the tournaments in Las Vegas and Mexico, big-time beach volleyball takes a break until January. Perfect timing, Sweat said.

"It's a good time to jump in and get my feet wet a little bit and then kind of cool down a little bit," Sweat said. "And then get back in the process for the next two years."