In the first ever beach sprint (Youth) Olympic time trials, the honor of topping the timesheets went to Germany’s Johann Meyer and Carolina Guerra in the mixed double (2:35.86), Greece’s Iason Mouselimis in the men’s solo (2:39.75) and Switzerland’s Tanya Brendle in the women’s solo (2:57.82). Brendle upset our predictions and edged out China’s youth mixed double world champion Lili Liu by just seven hundredths of a second to take top spot.
One of the biggest challenges of beach sprint is rest and recovery. The sport consists of series of two to three minutes of pure intensity separated by hours or even days in the first rounds (the time trials) and barely a handful of minutes in the final phases (the knockout stages and medal matches).
The prize of topping the timesheets in the first time trial is facing the slowest qualified boat in the last 16. (Although even that didn’t work out for Australia’s senior mixed double at 2026 worlds, when they ended up having soon-to-be world champion Germany.) But the prize of finishing top eight in that initial session is perhaps even more important.
The beach sprint competition at Dakar 2026, the sport’s Youth Olympic debut, is spread out over four days, and so an easier proposition than the planned two-day regatta at LA28. But we’re also seeing the athletes that race in the mixed double having to compete in the solos—exactly the same plan as in Los Angeles—which means having to row as many as 12 times should they aspire to win a medal.
Qualifying directly from the first time trial, in both the solo and double, can shave that down to 10 possible efforts. And, of course, the countries without a mixed double trade off the possiblity of winning up to three medals for a much reduced challenge of one medal from just five or six races.
In that context, both Germany and Spain came out ahead after the first day of racing, while both Mouselimis and Brendle will also carry the advantage of not doubling up at all. By qualifying today, Mouselimis and Brendle have a full day of rest tomorrow. By finishing top eight in the double and solos, the German duo and Spain’s Diego Molina and Blanca Lopez get the morning off. However those two doubles will still face a tough challenge as they aspire for all three podiums.
The second mixed double time trial at Saly Beach West, Senegal, begins tomorrow at 10.00 UTC, with 10 teams reaching for just eight additional places. The second time trial for the men is at 10.45, followed by the women at 11.20. And the mixed double last 16 is scheduled for 12.20, meaning a female athlete that qualifies in the second time trial could face the knockout stage just a few minutes later.