Castro Defies Time on Sand : She’s Olympic Beach Volleyball Candidate at 37

Gail Castro’s goal is to play in next year’s Olympic Games in Atlanta, when she will be nearing her 39th birthday.

In beach volleyball, a physically grueling sport with many top players in their 20s and early 30s, approaching 40 can be a setback.

But it hasn’t discouraged Castro, a graduate of Crescenta Valley High and Valley College, from pursuing her Olympic dream.

With muscular legs, a washboard stomach and well-defined biceps, Castro looks stronger and more fit than many of her opponents. She also possesses one of the most lethal serves on the women’s pro beach volleyball tour.

“My experience carries me a lot,” Castro said. “I have to be smarter than other players and make better decisions in games because I can’t afford to extend energy when I really don’t have to.”

At a tournament Wednesday in Hermosa Beach, Castro and longtime partner Elaine Roque defeated Canadians Margo Malowney and Barb Broen-Oullette, 15-11, in the morning. Castro-Roque lost, 15-5, to Americans Angela Rock and Linda Hanley in the afternoon and will play again this morning in the double-elimination event.

Castro and Roque are seeded first in the 30-team qualifying tournament and have a great chance of making the 24-team main draw, which begins Friday. To do that they must finish among the top six teams in qualifying and among the top three of the 14 competing U.S. teams.

Since the best three teams in the Women’s Professional Volleyball Assn. have already gained berths in the main draw, Castro’s chances of placing among the three remaining U.S. teams in the qualifier appear good.

“The hardest thing for us today was dealing with the wind and adjusting to the ball,” Castro said. “The international ball is a lot lighter than the one we use in the WPVA and it really just takes off out of the stadium.”

The Hermosa Beach event is sanctioned by the Federation Internationale De Volleyball, the sport’s international governing body.

It is the second of 11 tournaments in the 1995-96 World Championship Series to determine who is eligible to compete in Atlanta.

“I’ve played for so many years I was ready to retire and have another kid,” said Castro, who has an 8-year-old son. “But then came this opportunity to go to the Olympics and I couldn’t quit. I always dreamed of going to the Olympics.”

Castro, who turns 38 in November, was an All-Southern Section middle blocker as a senior at Crescenta Valley in 1975 and was school co-athlete of the year with Brad Holland, who played basketball for UCLA and the Lakers.

She led Valley College’s volleyball team to consecutive Metropolitan Conference titles in 1976 and ’77. The Monarchs went undefeated in ’76 and won the state championship.

At at Long Beach State, Castro was an All-Southern California Athletic Assn. middle blocker and later played two years of professional indoor volleyball in Italy.

When she returned she hit the sand and became one of the pioneers of the WPVA, the only domestic women’s tour. She has played in more WPVA tournaments (120) than any other woman and has a 445-243 record. She has won three WPVA titles and one FIVB title.

Castro has earned $15,700 this summer, reached one tournament final and placed third twice. She has a 36-24 record with Roque.

Hermosa Beach is like home. Castro often trains there with her coach, Dae Lea Aldrich. The sand is deeper and hotter than most sites, giving local teams a distinct advantage.

“I like our chances,” Castro said. “I think other than American teams the Brazilians are the only ones who will really challenge us.”