Shauna Mullin

Shauna Mullin
Personal information
Nationality British
Born 11 September 1984
Johannesburg, South Africa
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight 68 kg (150 lb)
Beach volleyball information
Current teammate
Years Teammate Tours (points)
2012 Zara Dampney FIVB World Tour (125)
Previous teammates
Teammate
Denise Johns

Shauna Mullin (born 11 September 1984) is a British beach volleyball player, and former Scottish national indoor volleyball player. She was brought up in South Africa and Malaysia, but plays for Scotland and Great Britain. She has been chosen as one of the two players to take the home nation qualification spot at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Mullin was born in South Africa, and first discovered volleyball while living in Malaysia.[1] Her father was a hotel manager, and so Mullin's family moved around a lot while she was a child and she spent time in boarding schools.[2] In 1999, her family moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, she took a Masters degree in Management with Business Law at Heriot Watt University.[3] A second Masters degree followed, in Marketing at the University of Bath.[4]

Career

She appeared for the Scottish national volleyball team between 2003 and 2006. While at University she appeared for the British team at the World University Beach Volleyball Championships, and joined the British beach volleyball programme in 2006. She began to compete on the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball in 2007.[4]

Whilst on the tour, along with her partner Zara Dampney, she sold advertising space on the back of her bikini bottoms, hosting a QR code for bookmaker Betfair. They are otherwise funded by the National Lottery.[5] They competed at the Olympic test event in London, and won all of their group games, but were defeated in the second knockout round by the Brazilian team who went on to win the tournament.[6] During the warm up to the Games, the pair played a demonstration match in Parliament Square, opposite the Houses of Parliament.[7]

They finished in 17th place at the World Championships in 2011, which was the highest placed British pair. They were knocked out by the reigning Olympic champions, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh.[4]

Dampney and Mullin were awarded the host nation place for the beach volleyball at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where the events are due to take place on Horse Guards Parade. They will be the first British pair to compete in the sport at an Olympic Games since 1996.[8] As of the announcement that they are to compete in the Olympics, Dampney and Mullins were ranked 37th in the world.[9] They are aiming for a top ten finish at the Games.[2]

References

  1. "Shauna Mullin". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Maul, Rob (3 July 2012). "B for Beach Volleyball: Sand and deliver". The Sun. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  3. "Good luck to Lisa - our Olympic student". Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Shauna Mullin". Team Bath. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  5. "Boosting the bottom line: Beach volleyball stars to rent out advertising space on their bikini-clad behinds". Daily Mail. 9 August 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  6. "Zara Dampney profile". BBC Sport. 19 June 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  7. "Olympics present the challenge of a lifetime for these drivers". The Sun. 25 May 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  8. "London 2012: Zara Dampney and Shauna Mullin selected for Games". BBC Sport. 2 July 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  9. Ross, Sam (2 July 2012). "Zara Dampney and Shauna Mullin land Team GB beach volleyball places". Metro. Retrieved 3 July 2012.

External links