Zimbabwean swimmer Connor Grist is preparing for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games while balancing school exams and hours of daily training. The 17-year-old hopes the experience will bring him a step closer to his ambition of reaching the top of his sport.
By Lovejoy Mutongwiza, bird story agency
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 up between two and four hours a day, in addition to gym sessions. Yet Grist insists that serious sport and academic work can coexist, provided he manages his time and concentrates on the areas where he needs to catch up.
Rather than treating school and swimming as competing priorities, he has learnt to work around both.
His coach, Lindsy Tudor-Cole, head coach at Spartan Swimming Club and responsible for Zimbabwe’s team preparations for Dakar, describes him as an athlete who understands the demands of improvement.
“Connor is a really coachable kid. He is an extremely hard worker. He’s super disciplined,” she said. “Whatever he’s told, he does it 100 per cent.”
Tudor-Cole said preparations had been particularly demanding because the athletes were balancing two major milestones: their examinations and the biggest competition of their swimming careers so far. She praised Grist for handling the pressure, despite difficult days during the build-up.
For Grist, support has extended beyond his coach. His school has congratulated him and accommodated changes to some of his sporting commitments, while his parents have backed his ambition since he first told them he wanted to reach Dakar.
He also draws inspiration from swimmer Kyle Lee, whom he met at last year’s World Aquatics Championships for open-water swimming. Lee’s combination of sporting excellence and kindness towards other athletes has shaped Grist’s understanding of the person he wants to become.
“He’s definitely an inspiration for me to be the best I can, but also be a great person at the same time.”
Dakar will bring Grist face to face with competitors from countries where swimming can take precedence over other school sporting commitments. Tudor-Cole acknowledges that Zimbabwe’s athletes face stiff competition, but believes the experience will help them understand the international standards they must work towards.
Her message to young Zimbabweans watching is straightforward: believe in themselves, remain consistent and commit to the work.
Grist shares that long-term outlook. He is not travelling to Dakar with a promise of medals or a fixed expectation of where he should finish. Instead, he wants to swim his races to the best of his ability and use the experience as a foundation for what comes next.
“My goal in my life is to be the best I possibly can, regardless of what that ranks me in the world,” he said.
For now, the teenager who once heard about the Youth Olympic Games on a car journey is focused on the next race. The bigger dream remains firmly in sight.
“I hope to go as far as I can in swimming,” he said. “I want to be the top guy in the sport one day.”
bird story agency
