Poole, Sport | Posted on October 12th, 2026 | return to news

Poole rower on course for Youth Olympics

A grant from Dorset Community Foundation’s Lord-Lieutenant’s Fund for the Young and Talented will help Lexi Gill achieve her ambitions.

A Poole teenager has received a grant that could help her to achieve her sporting dream.

Rower Lexi Gill, 17, who has been selected to represent Great Britain at the Youth Olympics, has been aided by a Dorset Community Foundation grant that helped pay for the equipment and travel that has propelled her to the next level.

Lexi had only been rowing for a year before she was invited to try the fast-growing Beach Sprint event. The fast-paced sport requires competitors in either singles or pairs to race to their boats before slaloming around buoys and then rowing back to the beach, leaping from their boat to sprint for the finish line.

She showed so much promise she was invited to be part of the Beach Sprints Development Academy and had trials for the Team GB Development Pathway and will now compete in the Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal, from 31 October to 3 November.

Before that she is taking part in the 2026 World Beach Sprint Finals in China.

“Competing in Dakar at the Youth Olympics and in China at Worlds is something I’ve dreamed of ever since I started beach sprints, so it’s an amazing feeling to see all the hard work paying off and that dream becoming a reality,” she said.

“I’m incredibly excited to compete on the international stage, challenge myself against some of the best athletes and achieve the best results I can.”

Lexi was awarded £1,000 from the community foundation’s Lord-Lieutenant’s Fund for Young and Talented to help with the cost of buying her own rowing blades and travel and accommodation. The fund, which is also supported by Wimborne engineering company Superior Seals, awards grants towards costs that might prevent youngsters from making the most of their natural ability.

She said: “The grant provided me with the opportunity to not only train with equipment that enabled me to be my best, but also to be able to attend the competitions that were pivotal to my selection for the GB team. I am so grateful as well as being extremely proud to represent my country.”

Finishing second in the women’s singles time trial and fourth overall in the Under 19 event at the Welsh Championships prompted her selection to represent Great Britain at the Coupe de la Jeunesse in La Linea, Spain, last year.

She justified the faith placed in her when she and her teammate finished seventh in the women’s doubles time trial, finally coming seventh overall after reaching the quarterfinals.

She said competing in Spain has made her hungry for more international competition. “The racing was very different from what I’m used to because it’s such a higher level, but I really enjoyed getting to see what the standard was like and it has made me set my sights higher.”

She is now focused on the Youth Olympics but ultimately wants to be a full Olympian. The Beach Sprint is set to become an Olympic event in 2028.

She said: “That might be a bit soon but 2032 is great timing for me. That will be prime time for me, so that is definitely my biggest goal.

“I’m motivated even more by having my own blades, I look at them and the medals I’ve won and that’s the motivation I need to keep training.”

Dorset Community Foundation Chief Executive Louise Balaam said: “Lexi is exactly the kind of young person this fund is designed to help, and we are thankful to Lord-Lieutenant Michael Dooley and Superior Seals for their support.

“It’s so exciting to be able to play a small part in the sporting journey of someone with a huge talent whose potential is being limited by circumstances. We’re going to enjoy watching Lexi’s progress.”

Lexi said: “I couldn’t have reached this point without the support of my coaches at Poole Rowing Club and British Rowing, my beach sprint teammates, the grants that have helped make these opportunities possible and especially my mum. I’m looking forward to representing my country, gaining valuable experience and seeing what I can achieve.”