Zimbabwe’s Connor Grist Aims for Youth Olympic Glory in Dakar
Seventeen‑year‑old Connor Grist is training for the 2026 Youth Olympic Games after qualifying in South Africa.
Connor Grist Sets Sights on Dakar 2026
For Connor Grist, the idea of representing Zimbabwe at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games began with a conversation in a car with his then‑coach.
Two years later, the 17‑year‑old is preparing to compete on one of the biggest stages of his young career, guided by a simple belief: the work you put in is what you get out.
Grist will represent Zimbabwe in the 400‑metre freestyle, his main event, and the 200‑metre freestyle at the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, from October 31 to November 13.
His goal took shape when he first started swimming in 2024. His coach at the time spoke about the prospect of travelling to the Youth Olympic Games, planting an idea that gradually became a personal ambition.
“When we made it, I was so happy,” Grist said, recalling the moment he saw the qualifying time on the scoreboard at a competition in South Africa. “I knew what I had to do to get the time, or to get the right amount of points to make the team. When I looked up at the board, and I saw that time, I was so happy.”
For a teenager used to the competing demands of school and sport, a place on the national team is the result of setting a goal and working consistently towards it.
Grist’s route to swimming was shaped partly by discovering what did not suit him. At Peterhouse, his first school, he played rugby and water polo, but found the physicality of rugby and the environment surrounding water polo less appealing.
Swimming offered something different: a sport in which his progress depended largely on his own commitment.
“I chose swimming because when I was playing other sports, I found out that I wasn’t the best at those sports, but also you’re relying a lot on other people,” he said. “Whatever happens in swimming, at the end of the day, whatever you put in is what you’re going to get out. It’s not up to anyone else but yourself.”
That sense of personal responsibility has become central to his approach, particularly as he prepares for an international competition while in the middle of his International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) exams.
Training takes between two and four hours a day, plus gym sessions.
Grist says serious sport and academic work can coexist with careful time management.
He treats school and swimming as complementary rather than competing priorities.
As the Dakar Youth Olympic Games approach, Connor Grist remains focused on delivering his best performance while balancing the demands of elite sport and education.
