By Retta Race on SwimSwam
2026 SUMMER YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES
Sunday, November 1st – Friday, November 6th (pool swimming) Dakar, Senegal LCM (50m) Meet Central Results LivestreamThe 2026 Summer Youth Olympic Games kicked off today, Sunday, November 1st, from Dakar, Senegal, with pool swimming events spanning day one through day six.
This is the first time the YOG have taken place after an eight-year absence, with 390 athletes representing 139 countries expected to compete across all sports.
While many of the major swimming nations are absent, including the USA, Australia, Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, and Switzerland, there are still some global swimming powers planning to race. Among the countries that have entered athletes are China, 2018 medal table winners Russia, Italy, Hungary, New Zealand, South Korea, Poland, Belgium, Greece, and South Africa.
As a reminder, we reported that, due to the heat, there have been some adjustments made to the swimming program. All 400m events will be timed finals, to be swum in the mornings, while the 800m free has been removed from the schedule altogether.
History was made in the first event of the day, with Elvira Espinosa of Ecuador earning the first-ever YOG gold medal won by a female athlete from the nation.
17-year-old Espinosa won the girls’ 400m freestyle, stopping the clock at a time of 4:22.87 to top the podium.
That held a healthy advantage over Leah Markgraaff, with the 17-year-old South African notching 4:26.13 as the silver medalist.
Belgium’s Celya Paque rounded out the podium in 4:28.37.
As for Espinosa, her time checks in as a new lifetime best, making her the 2nd-fastest Ecuadorian female in history. Only national record holder Samantha Arevalo has been quicker, owning the ECU standard at 4:13.48 from over a decade ago in 2014.
Post-race, Espinosa told Olympics.com, “It makes me even happier to be the first. I can’t describe the feeling yet.
“A lot of people have supported me to race at my very best today. To be able to show this, and have the confidence to get the gold at such an important competition, is just crazy.”
She continued, “I couldn’t see the (score) board so well. I was like, ‘What time did I do?’. When I saw my coach jumping, I knew the answer.
“When I heard and saw my coach so happy, it was just amazing. It gave me chills.”
New Zealand got on the board in the first boys’ event of the evening, courtesy of Ariel Muchirahondo in the 200m backstroke.
Muchirahondo, 17 years of age, produced a winning result of 1:59.15 to register the sole time of the field under the 2:00 barrier.
The next-closest swimmer was represented by Parsa Shahshahani of Iran, who secured the silver in 2:02.74.
Greek athlete Nikolaos Papatheodorou bagged the bronze in 2:03.23.
Kiwi Muchirahondo’s performance fell just short of the 1:59.07 lifetime best and New Zealand National Age Record of 1:59.07 he put on the books in May of this year.
Another nation earned its first gold of the competition, with Argentina’s flag bearer Cecilia Dieleke getting it done in the girls’ edition of the 200m back.
Dieleke turned in a time of 2:10.05 to beat her competitors by over five seconds, establishing a new South American continental record in the process.
The former South American standard stood at the 2:10.36 fellow Argentine Malena Santillan nabbed at last year’s Junior Pan American Games.
Eirini Zervou of Greece earned the silver in 2:15.52, with Ofir Simcha of Israel rounding out the podium in 2:17.44.
On her silver medal, Zervou stated after the race, “I’m so excited. I am thrilled. The atmosphere today was amazing. I tried to give my best today and I think I gave it all. I’m so happy to do a good race and to combine it with a silver medal.
“There were a lot of nerves today. We have some great swimmers in our age here. I knew the competition would be difficult.” (Olympics.com)
Additional Notes
Serafima Fokina of Russia clocked a time of 59.81 to win the girls’ 100m butterfly in the sole result of the field under the 1:00 barrier. Romanian Daria-Mariuca Silisteanu was next to the wall in 1:00.31, as Brazil’s Ana Julia Aguiar earned bronze in 1:00.49. Egyptian athlete Zain Ali produced a time of 52.16 as the decisive victor in the men’s edition of the 100m fly. He beat the pack by nearly two seconds, with Serbia’s Aleksej Kalanj and Slovakian Matias Kristof snagging the minor medals. The former hit 54.03 for silver, and the latter notched 54.71 en route to the bronze medal spot. On his reaping gold, Ali told Olympics.com, “It was a pretty hard race. I worked so hard to get into that position, and I’m just so grateful and blessed for what I’ve just done.. I thank the people who stood by me and pushed me as hard as they can. Four years ago, I wasn’t even close to being here. I was far behind. I just worked hard and believed in myself. That’s the key. From start to finish, it was (a) tough (road). It wasn’t easy. I worked hard every single day, waking up at 4am. Everything was hard, from training to competition. I had to put in the work every day. It was unbelievable. I wasn’t prepared for such a moment. I was just happy. I forgot everything that had happened before that moment. But with all the practice and hard training, we’re now on our way.”YOG Medal Table Through Day One
Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 Argentina 1 0 0 1 Ecuador 1 0 0 1 Egypt 1 0 0 1 New Zealand 1 0 0 1 Russia 1 0 0 1 6 Greece 0 1 1 2 7 Iran 0 1 0 1 Romania 0 1 0 1 Serbia 0 1 0 1 South Africa 0 1 0 1 11 Belgium 0 0 1 1 Brazil 0 0 1 1 Israel 0 0 1 1 Slovakia 0 0 1 1 Totals 5 5 5 15Read the full story on SwimSwam: Cecilia Dieleke Clocks South American Record In 200 Back, Elvira Espinosa Makes History In Dakar
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