For more information on the Oldsmobile Beach
Volleyball Olympic Challenge<br>Series, please visit USA
Volleyball's web site
<br><br>www.usavolleyball.org/beach/main.htm<br><br>QUALIFYING OPENS OLDSMOBILE
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
EVENT<br><br>DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA. - North America's 1st pro beach
volleyball tournament<br>of the millennium opens here
Thursday (April 13) when 12 women's & 25 men's<br>teams
battle for Main Draw berths in the Oldsmobile Beach
Volleyball Olympic<br>Challenge Series event.<br><br>The
two-day qualification tournament will determine the final
8 berths in the 16-team Main Draws for both men &
women. 8 teams have already been seeded into the Main
Draws based on their Oldsmobile Beach Volleyball
Olympic Challenge Series points.<br><br>Mike Whitmarsh,
who won a Silver Medal in the inaugural beach
volleyball<br>competition at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, will be
attempting to qualify<br>for a Main Draw berth as he teams
w/David Swatik as the No. 2-seeded men's<br>tandem in the
Qualification Tournament.<br><br>Dax Holdren/Todd Rogers are
the top-seeded team in the men's qualifier
that<br>features 38 matches starting at 9 a.m. (EDT) Thursday &
Friday on the 8<br>sand courts near the Deerfield Beach
International Fishing Pier on A1A.<br><br>The 33 men's & 20
women's tandems will be competing for $200,000 in
prize<br>money with the winning teams sharing the $20,000
1st-place prize by capturing<br>Sunday's Gold Medal
matches.<br><br>Adam Johnson/Karch Kiraly, who won the inaugural
Oldsmobile Beach Volleyball Olympic Challenge Series event
last May in Huntington Beach, Calif., are the top
seeded men's team in the Main Draw. Kiraly won the Gold
Medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.<br><br>Sinjin
Smith/Carl Henkel, who finished 5th at the Atlanta Games,
are the 3rd-seeded team in the Main Draw behind
Kiraly/Johnson & Rob Heidger/Kevin Wong. The United States'
top-ranked men's team (No. 7 overall) on the FIVB Olympic
Qualification list, Heigder/Wong will be vying for their
2nd-straight Oldsmobile Beach Volleyball Olympic Challenge
Series title after winning the Gold Medal last September
in San Diego, Calif.<br><br>Other men's teams seeded
into the main draw are Dain Blanton/Eric
Fonoimoana,<br>Bill Boullianne/Ian Clark, Mike Mattarocci/Devin
Poolman, Morgan Chapman/Greg<br>Ryan & Lee LeGrande/Brent
Doble.<br><br>The Oldsmobile Beach Volleyball Olympic Challenge
Series helps determine which<br>athletes will be
nominated to represent the United States in international
competitions, including the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour
events, the 2000<br>Sydney Olympic Games, the 2001
Goodwill Games & the 2003 Pan American
Games.<br><br>Sponsored by Oldsmobile, the Oldsmobile Beach Volleyball
Olympic Challenge<br>Series was developed in partnership
w/USA Volleyball (USAV) & the United<br>States Olympic
Committee (USOC). The series was launched in 1999
w/events<br>in Huntington Beach, Calif. (May 13-16 for both men
& women), Virginia Beach,<br>Va. (June 25-27 for
women) & San Diego, Calif. (September 10-12 for both
men<br>& women).<br><br>The actual selection of the 4
United States teams (2 men's & 2 women's) that will
compete in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games will be based on
the final point standings from FIVB Beach Volleyball
World Tour events staged between January 1, 1999 &
August 15, 2000.