Moesha Johnson and Florian Wellbrock struck 10k gold on the first leg of the Open Water Swimming World Cup in Cancun, Mexico.
Johnson has established herself as the dominant force in women’s open water swimming. The Australian went unbeaten at the 2026 Open Water World Cup across the 10km and 3km knockout sprint events and became the first athlete in World Aquatics history to win every 10km race in a single World Cup season.
Moesha Johnson: Photo Courtesy: World Aquatics
Johnson started the race strong and took the sprint-lap win in the process, earning herself the $1,000 bonus on offer, before dropping back to 17th position for the second and third laps.
She conserved energy and picked off the field to finish in 2:03:31.20 for a winning margin of more than 13 seconds over Airi Ebina of Japan who hit the board in 2:03:44.40. Ginevra Taddeucci was third in 2:03:47.90.
“After the sprint lap the goal was just to drop back and relax because I haven’t got the big endurance work behind me for this season so far, so my endurance strength isn’t quite there,” she said through World Aquatics. “I really wanted to practice my open water skills, get in the pack, just play around a little bit.
“In the end, I was at the front again but I honestly didn’t know if I’d hold it this time. So I was really just seeing where I’m at.”
The expectations brought on by her ongoing winning run can weigh heavy on Olympic silver medallist, saying: “It’s really stressful and it takes a lot of work, and it’s something that I’m really proud of now.”
The choppy water at 29 degrees celsius gave the field an opportunity to race in similar conditions at what can be expected at the 2028 Games in LA.
“We’ve known for the last two years that it’s going to be a choppy swim. So today I didn’t let myself get frustrated at the waves because this is what I have to learn how to deal with,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity to practice and the conditions today were different again and that happens every single time we race and I love that.”
Ebina claimed her first World Cup podium finish, three months after silver at the Pan-Pacs also behind Johnson. Having gone through the final lap in fifth position, Ebina moved through the field in the closing stages to surpass her top-five target.
Taddeucci claimed her 18th World Cup medal since first reaching the podium at the Paris stop in 2022.
Maria De Valdes was fourth ahead of the USA’s Becca Mann, Angela Martinez Guillen with first-time World Cup competitor, Jacqueline Davison-McGovern seventh on her debut. Mafalda Rosa of Portugal posted her best ever result in a World Cup with eighth in a stacked field, while the top ten was rounded out by Bettina Fabian and Linda Caponi.
Wellbrock Back Atop The Podium
Wellbrock maintained a leading position throughout in the choppy water which saw the men’s field remained tightly packed.
The German came home in 1:53:55.80 with Domenico Acerenza of Italy edging out 2026 overall leader David Betlehem in 1:53:58.50 to 1:53:58.70.
Florian Wellbrock: Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
“It’s incredible, I started my season on the first of October, so I haven’t trained a lot,” said Wellbrock, the 2021 Olympic champion. “But I felt good, we had choppy water and it was pretty warm, but I think I’m good in these conditions, so I’m really happy.
“I haven’t trained a lot and the tactic was to save a lot of energy, especially in the first 5km. For the body it’s quite hard to compete in warm and choppy water because you lose a lot of energy, but I think I managed my body battery very well. It’s just one race at the beginning of the season so there’s still so much work to do and it’s just the beginning; we have our Olympic qualification next year in Budapest so that’s an important one to focus on.”
It was Acerenza’s first race since he moved to a training group under Germano Proietti at the Federal Training Center in Ostia, Italy, and followed time out of the water with a shoulder injury.
Italy continued to show their pedigree in the sport as Marcello Guidi, Dario Verani, and Fabio Dalu finished in fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively.
Victor Moreno, the 19-year-old from Brazil, finished seventh in his best World Cup finish. Italy’s Andrea Filadelli was eighth while Argentina’s Lucas Ezequiel Alba finished joint ninth with Frenchman Sacha Velly, while Mexico’s Paulo Strehlke Delgado finished 11th.