France’s leading beach sprinters will race for national titles at Les Sablettes beach in La Seyne-sur-Mer from 4–6 September, led by defending champions Hélène Lefebvre and Mathis Nottelet.
The championships, organised by Aviron Seynois and the Fédération Française d’Aviron, arrive less than two years before the discipline’s scheduled Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028. Senior singles and mixed doubles share the programme with U19, U17 and over-40s competition, while the mixed coxed-four criterium returns this year.
Beach sprint combines a run across the sand with an offshore rowing course. At LA28, athletes will run to open-hulled coastal boats, row 250 metres to a turning point, race back through the surf and finish with another sprint on the beach. The Olympic competition is scheduled for the Waterfront in Long Beach.
Champions Face World-Level Opposition
Lefebvre won her 20th French title across all rowing disciplines at Aix-les-Bains last year, securing the women’s beach-sprint crown. Her La Seyne opposition includes 2025 silver medallist Audrey Feutrie, bronze medallist Marine Delanoe and former national champion Elodie Ravera.
Chloé Briard brings recent international form for Lyon Caluire after taking mixed-double bronze at the latest World Rowing Beach Sprint Championships. She will also partner Vincent Noirot in the senior mixed double.
In the men’s single, Aviron Marne et Joinville’s Nottelet returns after following his 2025 French title with podium finishes at the European and World Rowing Beach Sprint Championships. Antoine Lefebvre, a world medallist alongside Briard, joins Noirot and Yann Dupuis among his principal challengers.
Nottelet and Hélène Lefebvre will then combine in the senior mixed double, representing Joinville and Encouragement. Their contest with Briard and Noirot brings four leading singles competitors into the mixed-double event.
Home Water for De Boussac
Local athlete Raphaël De Boussac leads the U19 men’s field after finishing fourth at the 2025 championships and later winning an international mixed-double medal. He will again race with Beaucaire’s Elisa Guilloton, his partner at the latest World Rowing Beach Sprint Championships.
Pierre Ibarburu and Maël Khaloua provide the opposition in the U19 men’s single. Guilloton’s rivals include Lina Hofland and Lilya Bouchikhi, both members of the French women’s coxless four at the latest World Rowing Championships.
Ten U17 crews and seven over-40s boats extend the entry beyond the senior and U19 contests. Aviron Seynois has spent several months preparing the venue and received a bronze-level French sustainability label for its work around the championships.
