Rowing Icon Emma Twigg Pursues Historic Olympic "Double" with Beach Sprint Success

Olympic legend Emma Twigg wins the NZ Beach Sprint Championships at Orewa, moving closer to a historic dual-discipline Olympic career at Los Angeles 2028.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 28, 2026, 4:06 AM EDT

Source: RNZ Pacific

A Dominant Performance at Orewa

Emma Twigg, 39, demonstrated her mastery of the burgeoning beach sprint discipline by winning the national final at Orewa Beach, Auckland. In a showdown between veterans, Twigg defeated fellow 39-year-old Erin James by a convincing nine-second margin. The victory follows Twigg’s 2025 success at the World Beach Sprint Championships in Turkey, where she claimed the solo women’s title, proving that her transition from the lake to the ocean is nearly seamless.

The Path to Los Angeles 2028

Beach sprint rowing—a high-intensity format involving a beach run, a 250m slalom row, and a sprint back to the finish—is set to make its Olympic debut at the LA 2028 Games. Twigg’s objective is to qualify in this new format, which would make her a pioneer in two distinct forms of rowing.

2026 Focus: Consolidation of domestic ranking and team integration.

2027 Goals: Continental and World Championship qualifiers.