Hamburg, Germany, October 30, 2020 - Like most of 2020, Maggie Kozuch will spend another quiet day here Friday as she celebrates her 34th birthday.
It has been over a month since Kozuch has played a competitive beach volleyball match. She and Laura Ludwig placed fifth at the European Championships in mid-September in Latvia where the Germans were eliminated in three sets by eventual champions Joana Heidrich and Anouk Verge-Depre of Switzerland.
"I have been sleeping really a lot," said Kozuch, who turned to beach volleyball in 2017 after a standout indoor career where she played on the German national team for 11 seasons and was named five times as the country's player of the year. Kozuch started playing volleyball in 1997.
"I was in Italy for a while," Kozuch added, "and I wasn't motivated to do more sport than activation in the morning. It was kind of a wellness time with short trips into nature, many hugs and massages. The last few weeks I have been hiking a bit, playing some tennis with more yoga, conversation with friends and cleaning up things."
With very few playing opportunities in 2020 due to the pandemic, Kozuch said she "doesn't know how the season would have been if the circumstances would have been different. I would have liked to play a little more and I didn’t want to stop after Latvia."
Kozuch said, however, that "two days later after playing in the European Championships, I was glad to finally let go and have some holiday. Since October 2019, I couldn’t really let go. This was probably the reason for so much sleep during the first two free weeks after playing in Jurmala."
As for her partnership with Ludwig, who captured the Rio 2016 Olympic and Vienna 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship gold medals with Kira Walkenhorst, Kozuch said "we had many meetings to share our thoughts and feelings to build up a wonderful programme which is very motivating. We made the best out of the lack of playing events and stayed as present as possible."
Since making her beach volleyball debut in 2017, Kozuch has appeared in 27 FIVB events with a gold medal finish with Ludwig in her team's last appearance on the international circuit in September 2019 at the World Tour Finals in Rome.
First World Tour gold medal for Maggie Kozuch (right) with Germany partner Laura Ludwig.
Kozuch started her World Tour career playing with Karla Borger as the pair played in 15 events together with a bronze medal at a June 2018 event in the Czech Republic highlighting their partnership. Kozuch and Borger also captured a gold medal together at a 2017 European challenger event in September 2017 in Romania.
Prior to joining forces full-time with Ludwig in 2019, Kozuch played one tournament with the Olympic and world champion in 2017 in late June in Croatia where the pair placed ninth. Kozuch rekindled her connection with Ludwig in late April 2019 in China where the pair placed 25th at Xiamen.
Despite winning gold in their last FIVB event, the Kozuch/Ludwig partnership struggled initially by winning only 15 of their first 30 World Tour matches together as the pair posted three ninths, a 17th and four 25ths in their first eight starts on the international circuit.
However, Kozuch and Ludwig ended 2019 strong on the World Tour by posting a 14-5 match mark with a fifth at the Vienna Major, a ninth in Moscow and the gold medal at the World Tour Finals in Rome where the Germans upset Agatha Bednarczuk and Eduarda "Duda" Lisboa of Brazil in the two-set finale.
A breakthrough tournament for Maggie Kozuch (left) in Vienna with German partner Laura Ludwig.
"The turning point was in Vienna where we placed fifth," said Kozuch. "Even though we had more possibilities to go further, something there clicked in me and from that point on, there was a new process just starting. Even though that process had its ups and downs, it gave us the feeling that we could go on to fulfil our potential and led us to our happy point in Rome."
As for playing with Ludwig, Kozuch said “playing with the woman that has played a big part in creating this sport and also living with her as a human being is a blessing. Of course, it brings challenges as we go through this partnership together and we support each other. It’s awesome playing and growing with her. We all learn from each other.”
As for her transition from the indoor game to the beach, Kozuch said there “was not the one huge or big difference. It could be everything. One is the connection to nature which is huge. It’s also challenging training with the elements. The switching from 14 players to two and being 50% of a team is such a big difference and brings many new situations. I like the self-responsibility and creation in beach volleyball.”
Kozuch added that her indoor experience “created me as a professional athlete. The key is adapting and respecting the new. I can also respect myself for my indoor career without losing myself. The art of bringing everything into harmony makes myself flow in beach volleyball. It’s all connected. I am grateful for my team and people around me to guide me through this process.”