Reigning women’s solos world champion (and Tokyo 2020 women’s singles Olympic champion) Emma Twigg and 2023 beach sprint mixed doubles world champion Matthew Dunham return to New Zealand’s 2026 beach sprint team. Twigg and Dunham will race in the solos at this year’s World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Qindao, China. They will be joined by Erin James, a teammate of Twigg’s from the New Zealand eight from 2003 to 2006, and Sebastian Fulton, making his international debut, in the mixed doubles.
New Zealand’s beach sprint team will consist of just four rowers. This mirrors last year, but is in contrast to other beach sprint powers, such as Spain and the USA, who in 2025 were represented by 17 and 16 athletes, respectively. Ultimately, the maximum number of places available for the LA28 Olympic Games, whose qualification process begins next year, will be just two per country (one female and one male), and this could mean that other countries begin to reduce the size of their competition squads over the next year or so.