Magdeburg training partners Moesha Johnson and Florian Wellbrock each secured double gold with 3km knockout sprint honours at the opening leg of the Open Water Swimming World Cup in Cancun, Mexico.
Johnson dominated the 10k on the opening day and continued her golden run in the knockout sprint to maintain a perfect record through 2026.
The Olympic silver medallist topped the podium at all individual World Cup events, the Pan-Pacific Open Water Championships and the German National Championships, a feat hitherto unachieved.
Moesha Johnson: Photo Courtesy: World Aquatics
“It’s pretty crazy, and I never came into this year expecting that,” said the Australian. “I don’t know if I, or anyone else will be able to do that again. Once I won yesterday, it made me want to go and complete the year like that.”
The inclusion of open water at Brisbane 2032 is reportedly under threat at what would be a home Games for Johnson should she still be competing six years hence.
With an eye on the World Championships in Budapest next year and the LA Olympic Games beyond that, Johnson said: “I’m really grateful for everyone who is following along, everyone who is tuning into open water.
“There’s so much more to come and people should really get behind our sport, get behind what we’re doing because we want to see this sport grow bigger and bigger beyond LA 2028.”
Johnson and Wellbrock made it four gold medals for the Magdeburg training stable where the pair are guided by Bernd Berkhahn.
Wellbrock – the Tokyo Olympic champion – said: “Moesha is really strong and she’s been dominating the women’s races for a long time. To work with Moesha and Bernd it’s so much fun and I enjoy every moment at home in Magdeburg and it’s a great way to be competitive for these events.”
Ichika Kajimoto ensured Japan took home yet another silver medal following Airi Ebina’s success in the 10km on day one. The reigning world 3km sprint champion now has five World Cup medals to her name in the event.
Lisa Pou won her first World Cup medal with bronze to come back from withdrawing from the 10k due to illness. Bettina Fabian and Lea Boy were fourth and fifth respectively.
Wellbrock Edges Betlehem For Gold
Wellbrock came out on top after a close battle for gold with Hungarian David Betlehem. As winner of the semifinal, Betlehem chose his preferred position on the pontoon for the final where a strong start saw him racing shoulder-to-shoulder with the German for the majority of the final 500 metre lap.
Florian Wellbrock: Photo Courtesy: World Aquatics
Wellbrock accelerated in the final 150 metres, creating a slight lead he cemented with an excellent final turn to add gold to his 10k title.
Speaking through World Aquatics, he said: “Two golds is a great surprise for me to be honest, I only started my season on 1 October so I didn’t expect this. I think everyone was tired from yesterday. I struggled a bit in the second 1000 metre lap, so I didn’t expect the gold after that.
“But I had a really good start in the final lap, I took the first buoy in first place and I think it’s a really important spot for the final 500 metre lap, so it worked pretty well. It’s really important to have good turns in the 500 metre sprint, on the last turn I just tried to create a bigger gap to David because he’s really fast – one of the fastest especially in the sprint.”
Betlehem upgraded 10k bronze to 3k silver with Marc-Antoine Olivier third to atone for a disappointing 18th in the 10k. Italian duo Andrea Filadelli and Marcello Guidi were fourth and fifth respectively with Paulo Strehlke Delgado sixth in front of a home crowd.
Cancun represented the final stop of 2026 with attention now turning to the next stop in Somabay, Egypt on 19 and 20 March 2027.
