Andrew Cochran helped coach the women’s beach volleyball teams at the Paris Olympics. Melissa Humana-Paredes, above left, and Brandie Wilkerson won silver medals.
By Kathy Rowe
The summer of 2024 was a very special time for Centennial resident Andrew Cochran. He got to go to the Summer Olympics in Paris, France, to witness the Canadian women’s beach volleyball team win a silver medal, Canada’s best-ever Olympic beach volleyball result, and first medal since the men won bronze in Atlanta in 1996. Andrew is the Senior Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Canadian beach volleyball team.
“Three teams (two players per team) were sent to compete at the Olympics in Paris: one men’s team and two women’s teams. The top team ranked fourth seed, so we knew we had a shot at a medal,” Andrew said.
He was right! Brandie Wilkerson and her team partner Melissa Humana-Paredes took home the silver medal after falling just short of gold against Brazil. Andrew, who also worked as the Sports Science/Sport Medicine Lead for the teams, endured long days alongside the athletes throughout their stay in Paris. “I didn’t really get to see much of Paris, unfortunately,” he admitted. “The schedules were very demanding.”
Andrew explained that the travelling between practices and games as well as meals and rest times didn’t allow for sightseeing. Despite this, he revelled in the experience of being a key part of the Olympic scene. “These athletes have such exceptional skill and athleticism. With only two team members, they both need to be able to do everything – passing, attacking and defending.”
Andrew grew up on a farm just outside of Almonte, Ontario. His football skills got him recruited to St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia to play on the varsity football team. After sustaining a serious shoulder injury, he turned his focus to academics.
He earned his Masters degree and PhD in exercise physiology at McMaster University in Hamilton. He was soon on a path to working with high-performance athletes. “When Canada won the bid for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, I was just finishing up at McMaster. I was lucky and my timing was good.”
Andrew spent two years working with the Canadian women’s national rowing team out of London, Ontario. In 2015, he moved to Toronto and was soon working with the volleyball athletes.
Beach volleyball is a specialized sport and the injuries the athletes sustain are varied. “Players often play two games per day for four to five consecutive days in 30+ degree weather, sometimes for several consecutive weeks, so the season can be gruelling,” he said. “Physical preparation is critical to simply surviving such a schedule, but so is managing things like heat, hydration and nutrition on a daily basis. Luckily, we have a great team of experts supporting the athletes, and it happened to work out well for us in Paris.”
During the winter, they practice and train at the Downsview airport where there are three indoor beach volleyball courts set up in one of the hangars. In the warmer months, they practice on the beaches of Ashbridges Bay and train at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre.
Post Olympics, Andrew has moved into a more managerial position with the Canadian Sport Institute. In his new role, he oversees all the strength and conditioning coaches who are working with all types of high-performance athletes.
When recalling his time at the Olympics this year, Andrew said, “I am really proud of the athletes and how they stayed composed and really gritty through to the end.”