"VAN" (Sports Desk - 20.10.2026) :: The 2026 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals got underway in Qingdao, China, on Monday with a morning session testing athletes’ coastal skills on the Yellow Sea.
Irregular breaking waves made it hard for rowers to get a clean start off the beach and land again, and several capsizes occurred. But the conditions also provided plenty of excitement for spectators in the stands, including family and friends from around the world, as well as local Chinese schoolchildren experiencing the thrills of beach sprints for the first time.
The day mostly featured time trials, whittling down the large number of entrants to the final 16 or eight crews, depending on the event, who will contest the knockout rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday. No defending champion topped the standings, underscoring the discipline's unpredictability.
In the men’s solo, Germany’s Moritz Wolff was the quickest of the 45 entrants, beating reigning and record world champion Christopher Bak (USA) by 3.3 seconds.
On the women’s side, beach sprints debutante Isabella Scammell (AUS) was comfortably the quickest athlete. Scammell backed up that performance with a time-trial win in the coastal mixed double sculls alongside Oscar Scheel Gamborg, pushing defending champions Lithuania into second place.
European champions Ander Martin and Esther Briz (both ESP) had to go through the second time trial to secure their place in the solos knockout round, but both progressed safely.
Eight nations debuted in the beach sprints, with plenty of noteworthy performances. Indonesia impressed by beating Egypt in the repechage of the mixed coxed quadruple sculls to qualify for the last eight, and their women’s solo, Parisa Chaempudsa, also reached the Last 16.
Colombia’s Alejandro Riccardi qualified for the knockout round of the under 19 men’s solos, losing narrowly to Raphael de Boussac (FRA) in his nation’s first appearance at a World Beach Sprint Finals.
China’s Bu Boren (men) and Zhu Weiwei (women) won the under 19 men’s and women’s solo time trials, with both advancing to the Last Eight. Germany, Italy and Great Britain emerged as the time trial winners of the under 19 mixed, men’s and women’s double sculls, but with times close among the top crews, the knockout rounds are likely to be exciting in these events.
Racing continues in Qingdao on Tuesday 20 October from 07:00 local time (23:00 UTC, Monday 19 October). Medals will be awarded in the under-19 men’s and women’s double sculls, the inclusion mixed double sculls, the men’s and women’s solos, and the under-19 men’s and women’s solos.
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