German Wellbrock wins open water gold at World Aquatics championships

Germany's Florian Wellbrock won gold in the men's 10-kilometre open water swimming on Wednesday at the World Aquatics championships.

The 27-year-old came out on top after 1 hour 59 minutes 55.50 seconds, beating Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy by 3.70 seconds. Third place went to Australia's Kyle Lee.

With an official water temperature of 30.4 degrees Celsius, Wellbrock swam in the leading group from the start and was at the front for most of the race.

On the final lap, he fended off Paltrinieri's challenge and remained in first place.

This was Wellbrock's sixth world championships title in open water swimming.

Paris silver medallist Moesha Johnson took gold in the women's 10km race, which took place just a few hours after the men's event.

The Australian prevailed after 2:07:51.30 hours, beating Italy's Ginevra Taddeucci by 4.40 seconds. Bronze went to Lisa Pou of Monaco.

First gold of 2025 championships

Just under a year ago, Wellbrock had to cope with huge disappointments at the Olympic Games in Paris.

He was surprisingly eliminated in the in the 800 metre and 1500 metre freestyle heats in the pool and also missed out on the medal he had hoped for in the open water marathon in the Seine.

But he quickly put all of that in the past and claimed gold in the first of 77 medal events at the World Aquatics championships.

"I'm very happy with this start to the world championships," he said after the win in Singapore. "It was really tough today. I think it was the warmest waters that we've had to race in."

"I had one year to prepare for this. We did a lot of heat training and I think that was the key today to me taking the gold," Wellbrock added.

Water quality controversy

The women's race was postponed from Tuesday to Wednesday due to the dirty sea at Palawan Beach, and both events on Wednesday were pushed back while water monitoring continued during the night.

"That was very, very annoying. We don't understand why World Aquatics informs coaches and committees about such circumstances in the middle of the night," Wellbrock criticized.

A statement from organizers said water quality samples collected during Tuesday afternoon met the standards outlined in the World Aquatics competition regulations.

The three samples taken along the course had shown "a significant improvement, with levels of E. coli falling between the ranges of 'good' to 'excellent'," organizers said.

"Regular water quality monitoring and testing continues throughout the competition period to ensure athlete safety, with the health and safety of all participants continuing to guide all competition-related decisions," the statement said.

"World Aquatics and the Singapore 2025 organizers extend our appreciation to all athletes, officials, and supporters for their patience and cooperation."

Last year's Paris Olympics also faced the same issue in the River Seine. The poor water quality repeatedly sparked debate and delays. Several swimmers reported health problems after their competitions.