IOC President Kirsty Coventry traded her swimming goggles for a windsurfing boom on Monday, taking to the water at Saly Beach West during the sailing competition at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.
Her tutors were about as qualified as it gets. Three Olympic windsurfing gold medallists turned up to teach her: Italy's Alessandra Sensini, France's Charline Picon and New Zealand's Barbara Kendall. World Sailing President Quanhai Li joined the group on the beach.
"Today we had the visit of the IOC President, and she had her first windsurfing lesson," said Picon. "Three teachers for her... I think she enjoyed it."
Kendall's presence is a nice touch for New Zealand sailing fans. The Kiwi great remains one of this country's most decorated windsurfers, and seeing her pass on tips to the head of the Olympic movement is the kind of moment that will raise a smile back home.
After the lesson, Coventry and Li headed out onto the field of play to watch the racing. The visit finished with a swim back to the beach, hardly a stretch for Coventry given her own background as an Olympic swimming champion.
Out on the water, conditions had turned breezier than the day before, shuffling the women's fleet leaderboard. Italy's Laura Grasso Castagnetta won the final race of the day to move into the overall lead on 10 points, two clear of Spain's Olivia Sanchez. China's Wu Ziyan, unbeaten through day one, did not start the last race and drops to third.
Greece's Kyriaki Zerva was the standout mover, winning races four and five to climb from 12th to sixth overall. "It was so much better than yesterday," she said of the stronger breeze, which eased off again before the final race. Her goal from here is blunt: "I want to be in the first three."
In the men's fleet, Greece's Evangelos Kyriazakos picked up two more race wins and now leads by four points from Hong Kong's Ng Hoi Tik. Behind them, the Philippines' Jade Justin Justiniane and Hungary's Flórián Kátai are locked together on 23 points for third.
"We had everything today," Kátai said. "I would like to be on the podium, but we will see how it goes."
Peru's Paula Ledgard is keeping her focus simple amid a fleet stacked with experienced names. "I just think that I want to improve every day," she said, "and after this championship be better."
Racing resumes on Tuesday 10 November, with three more races scheduled for each fleet.
