Arianna Robinson is a fast learner.
Two days before her first competition in rowing coastal beach sprints at Dakar 2026, the Zimbabwean rower had never experienced rowing on waves.
At least, not real waves.
Her training for the Youth Olympic Games consisted of balancing on a Bosu ball to imitate the roll of the sea.
“One of my friends, he would shake the ball so it would be like I’m on the waves,” Robinson told Olympics.com. “We don’t have a sea in Zimbabwe and all our dams are fairly small so there’s not a lot of waves so I wasn’t able to practise there. But we made a plan and we did land simulations.”
In addition to exercising on gym equipment meant to replace a coastal rowing shell, Robinson ran up hills and did circles on the track to imitate sprinting on the hot sand of Saly beach.
But nothing in training could have imitated the pure joy the 17-year-old felt when she rowed on real waves for the first time arriving in Senegal.
“I’ve never done beach sprints before, so this is all so new. But I really enjoyed it,” she gushed on shore. “The fact that I’m here and able to do this, I’m so happy.”
Robinson was the sole competitor from Zimbabwe in rowing at Dakar 2026 where beach sprints are making their Youth Olympic debut. While she did not advance to the knockout stage in the women’s solo, the experience inspired her to continue pursuing this discipline.
Olympics.com spoke to the Arianna Robinson about her swift initiation into beach sprints, learning on the spot and sharing the pride of Dakar 2026 with all of Africa.
