FFor outsiders, Chenoa Christ calls the “nice, open communication” that she shares with her partner Kim van de Velde on the beach volleyball field “very exhausting” – and laughs infectiously: “It makes it easy for us,” says the 22-year-old VC Wiesbaden. Two open-minded types who tick similarly and therefore get along well – both rather emotionally influenced and mostly blessed with a good mood. Then it gets louder on the field. But it fits. Since this season, the two beach volleyball players have formed a team. And the recent successes are impressive.
They won their first tournament together on the German Beach Tour in early May in Bremen, Kim’s hometown. At the second tour stop at the same place, they finished third. And at the beginning of June in Hamburg another tournament victory followed. Chenoa Christ called this experience “very, very cool”. The last time she was at the top of a winner’s podium “was at the German U-20 championship” – in 2019 with Anna-Lena Grüne – and she felt it was a long time ago.
Kim van de Velde was already successful under her maiden name Kim Behrens, and to top it all off, she even came second at the EM, 2020 with Cinja Tillmann. It was a particular success, because the German Volleyball Association (DVV) had previously denied the Behrens/Tillmann team access to the World Tour at a number of tournaments in order to give way to other German, supposedly more promising pairings. Behrens/Tillmann filed a lawsuit against the DVV, but in the final instance did not get a right – but the association then had to change its nomination practice.
As a “big sister” to Harvey
In the meantime, Kim van de Velde has found a positive approach to the game again. After her marriage to the Dutch beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde and her baby break, at the age of 30 she is more of the calming influence in the Christ/van de Velde team. Son Harvey is always on the tour, which brings a new role for Chenoa Christ: “I’m the big sister,” she says, but she doesn’t want to be called an “aunt”. Incidentally, she does not owe her unusual first name, which translated means “white dove” or “peace dove”, not to Indian ancestors, but to a whim of her Hessian parents: “They played name roulette,” she says happily.
Emotional double: Chenoa Christ (right) and Kim van de Velde act loudly
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Image: Detlef Gottwald
On the field, the prospective police commissioner, who is 1.84 meters tall, acts as a block player, while her partner, who is four centimeters shorter, acts as a defense specialist. The two are instructed by the “legendary trainer” Hans Voigt in Witten. The former university lecturer had already worked as a supervisor on the Olympic gold medals for Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann as well as Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst, but prefers to work in secret than to be in the spotlight.
Police training in Wiesbaden
Contrary to the cliché, Chenoa Christ not only spends a lot of time as a beach volleyball player on sand, but also on asphalt: she is in Wiesbaden twice a week for her training to become a police inspector. This is one of the reasons why the athlete, who was born in the Hessian capital, decided to compete for VC Wiesbaden (VCW).
Successful on the German tour: Van de Velde/Christ won the tournaments in Bremen and Hamburg
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Image: Detlef Gottwald
However, the beach division at the indoor Bundesliga club can still be expanded, as VCW managing director Christopher Fetting admits. There are two beach courts behind the old hall on the second ring. That’s it. And Chenoa Christ, who once attracted attention at the Elly Heuss School when promoting talent and then trained at the Münster sports boarding school, is the only active beach player at VCW. In general, Fetting is happy that the “great personality” plays for his VCW. “We have on the agenda” that “the tender little plant” beach volleyball has to be cared for.
The Olympics in Paris are probably too early
Chenoa Christ’s career, on the other hand, is picking up speed. She has already submitted her bachelor’s thesis, and two oral exams will follow in November. Too much presence in Wiesbaden is no longer necessary. Instead, she would like to tackle the international tour in late summer: Tournaments in Doha and the Philippines are on the flight plan. “It’s going to be a wild journey” with the goal of “establishing yourself on the World Tour”.
This Thursday, Christ/van de Velde will be entering international action at the Challenger tournament in Jurmala, west of the Latvian capital Riga. Paris 2024, they are under no illusions, is probably too early for them. There are “too many other German teams ahead of us”. But they have identified the 2028 Olympic Games as “the big goal”. Long-term planning is also part of open communication.