Palisadians Colleen Lyon and Shannon Neiman just returned from Spain, where they had fun in the sun while playing in the 2014 Mundial de Padel in Palma, Majorca.
The two local moms are also accomplished padel tennis players and joined Brentwood resident Gina Gardner on the U.S. Women’s Padel team at the World Championships.
They were first introduced to the game (a racquet sport popular in Spain and Latin America) last October and started playing seriously in February. All three played in a tournament in Houston in May. Lyon and her partner Ana Claver won. Neiman and Gardner took second.
In June, U.S. national team tryouts were held in Miami and Los Angeles. The three ladies placed in the top three and were invited to compete on the team, which consisted of eight players.
Spanish nationals Juan Fernandez-Lastra (a tennis and padel pro) and Claver (a representative for Padelbox, a company that builds padel courts), introduced Lyon, Neiman and Gardner to the sport and helped them train for the competition.
The USA finished 11th out of 12 teams. In the women’s team competition, Spain finished first, Argentina second and Portugal third.
“We lost to Argentina and Chile in our first round pool play, then we lost to Uruguay and beat Canada to get 11th place,” Lyon said. “Shannon and I personally won a match against Uruguay and another against Canada in team competition. We also were runners up in the consolation bracket for the pairs.”
Lyon and her husband Rick, a lifelong Palisades resident, have two children, Ainsley (3) and Spencer (1).
Neiman was raised in the Palisades, where she lives with her husband Doug and their two children, Ciaran (7) and Kellan (2).
— Steve Galluzzo
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