PH women’s beach volleyball team challenged by weather during Brazil training

Members of the Philippine women’s beach volleyball team. –JOVELYN GONZAGA INSTAGRAM

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine women’s volleyball team trained through bad weather on Wednesday at Ipanema Beach in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

Jovelyn Gonzaga shared on her Instagram stories that she and partner Sisi Rondina as well as the pair of Bernadeth Pons and Dij Rodriguez continued to train amid the dark skies and strong wind.

“Masamang panahon ka lang, Pinoy kami,” wrote Gonzaga.

(You are just bad weather. We are Filipinos.)

Gonzaga shared another photo of her with tape on her head to protect her eardrums due to the cold weather.

“Why do I have this in my head? To protect my eardrums it hurts because it’s so cold,” she said in Filipino.

Jovelyn Gonzaga during training in Brazil. –JOVELYN GONZAGA INSTAGRAM

The Philippine women’s beach volleyball squad is gearing up to eclipse their bronze medal finish from the 2021 Southeast Asian Games.

Gonzaga also expressed her appreciation for partner Rondina, who has been cooking their food in the training camp.

The men’s beach volleyball team composed of Ranran Abdilla, Jaron Requinton, Jude Garcia, and James Buytrago are also part of the training camp along with Brazilian coach Joao Luciano.

Both squads are seeking to surpass their back-to-back bronze medal finishes in the past two SEA Games.

The men’s and women’s teams arrived last week and will train in Rio until April 28.