Wellbrock maintains gold standard as Europeans gleam in opening WA Open Water Swimming World Cup at Somabay
Florian Wellbrock maintained his tip-top status at the opening World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup of the season at Somabay in Egypt.
The 28-year-old German, who left last year’s World Aquatics Championships in Singapore with four gold medals, secured victory in the men’s 10km.
Global form was also maintained in the women’s 10km, which went to Australia’s 5km and 10km world champion Moesha Johnson.
In what was yet another successful occasion for European athletes, men’s silver and bronze went respectively to Hungary’s world 10km silver medallist David Betlehem and Italy’s 2022 European 10km champion Domenico Acarenza.
Silver in the women’s race went to Italy triple world silver medallist in Singapore, Ginevra Taddeucci, while Germany’s double European bronze medallist Lea Boy finished third.
Wellbrock, who had just finished a high-altitude training camp, was in medal contention throughout the race before producing a final effort that saw him touch home first in 1:50:59.5.
Speaking after his third gold in three visits t Somabay, Wellbrock told World Aquatics: “I think I had the most energy for the last lap and just used my legs to sprint away – it worked really well.
“I always want to use my speed, and because I don’t like to go into the finish in a crowd; it’s always a problem for me if I’m stuck in the pack.
“It’s a part of our sport to deal with different conditions, and I like the sun, warm water, and flat water. It was perfect conditions for me today.”
Betlehem, 22, had described the race beforehand as “stronger than a World Championships or Olympics”, and said he felt “amazing” after clocking 1:51.04.10 to earn a 12th World Cup medal.
For Acarenza, who finished 01.50 behind the Hungarian and 0.50 ahead of France’s Marc-Antoine Olivier, this result at a venue where he won gold two years ago represented his “real comeback” after an extended absence due to a shoulder injury.
Johnson’s progress resembled that of Wellbrock as she was the prime mover in a three-person lead pack from the beginning of the women’s race before sprinting to gold.
Johnson finished in 1:58:26.10, 48.60 seconds clear of silver medallist Taddeucci (1:59:14.70), with Boy clocking 1:59:23.30.
Taddeucci, overall World Cup winner in 2025, tracked Johnson all the way en route to her 16th World Cup medal.
The Cup concluded with a mixed 4x1500m relay won in 1:09.24.60 by a German team comprising Boy, Leonie Martens, Oliver Klemet and anchor leg swimmer Wellbrock.
Hungary’s team of Bettina Fabian, Napsugar Nagy, Hunor Kovacs-Seres and Betlehem took silver at 02.30sec back, with bronze, at +48.20, going to Spain’s Maria De Valdes, Angela Martinez Guillen, Mateo Garcia Castro and Mario Mendez Puga.
Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics
The post Wellbrock maintains gold standard as Europeans gleam in opening WA Open Water Swimming World Cup at Somabay first appeared on European Aquatics®.