KEY POINTS
- Beach sprints debuted at the Youth Olympics in Saly, Senegal, on Saturday.
- Greece’s Iason Mouselimis, 17, finished first in the men’s time trials.
- Host Senegal’s rowers have trained in coastal boats for just one year.
Beach sprints made their Youth Olympic Games debut Saturday as rowing got underway at Dakar 2026 on the Atlantic coast at Saly, Senegal, with Greece’s Iason Mouselimis finishing first in the men’s time trials.
The discipline is due to appear at the Olympics for the first time in Los Angeles in 2028. Unlike traditional rowing, it features head-to-head racing, rough waves, fast turns around buoys and a final dash across the sand to the finish, World Rowing reported.
Still, that unpredictability is part of the draw. Australia’s Camilla Griffin, who placed fifth in the women’s time trials to advance, said she loves the sport. “I embrace the chaos. You have to give in to it,” she said.
Rowers can misjudge a buoy or get knocked over by a wave, she explained, so the race often comes down to how quickly they recover rather than a perfect plan.
Meanwhile, Isaac Moos of the United States said the atmosphere stood out. Back home, he said, other forms of rowing are cutthroat and rivals rarely mix. In Saly, however, athletes from every team spend time together.
Mouselimis weighs beach sprints against flatwater
Mouselimis, 17, arrived in Senegal with a remarkable season behind him. This year he won single sculls titles at both the World Rowing Under 19 Championships and the European Rowing Under 19 Championships. He also won the European Beach Sprint Championships and took silver at the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals.
The Greek teen called 2026 an amazing year and said he mainly wants to have fun in Dakar. But he also credited his results to dedication, hard work and willpower.
Now, with Los Angeles approaching, he faces a choice. Mouselimis said he hasn’t thought much about it yet, since the two disciplines are completely different sports despite sharing a name. Beach sprints are more explosive, he explained, while flatwater racing is smoother and heavily aerobic. Still, he said he enjoys the beach format because it is less stressful and athletes help one another.
Host nation new to the sport
Senegal, meanwhile, sees the event as a chance to grow rowing at home. Cheikh Moubarack Wade, president of Senegal Rowing, called the opening a proud day for Africa and noted the country has more than 700 kilometers of coastline.
Although Senegal knows boats well, he said, it is new to coastal rowing, and its athletes have trained in these boats for only a year. So the federation hopes to keep building the sport long after the Games.
