In 2025, the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup will travel from Africa to Europe, unifying the sport's finest athletes in a thrilling series across multiple stunning locations.
LAUSANNE—The World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup 2025 calendar will see the world's best open water swimmers compete in iconic locations for the sport's 19th World Cup season.
The upcoming competition calendar for the 2025 World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup:
- Stop 1: Somabay (EGY) – 21-22 Feb
- Stop 2: Ibiza (ESP) – 25-26 Apr
- Stop 3: Setubal (POR) – 14-15 Jun
- Stop 4: Golfo Aranci (ITA) – 10-11 October
- Stop 5: TBD
The Open Water Swimming World Cup 2025 season will once again be held in the crystal-clear waters of Soma Bay, Egypt. This city hosted the successful Open Water Swimming World Cup 2024 season opener and the Open Water Swimming World Cup 2023, which was part of the multi-sport Egypt Aquatics Festival.
Team Egypt used swimming in home waters to their advantage, with Lamees Elsokkary and Arwa Faisal Malek going one-two in the junior rankings in Somabay.
The second stop on the Open Water Swimming World Cup tour heads to Ibiza for racing in the Mediterranean Sea. While this will be the 49th time Spain has hosted a World Aquatics event – including the World Aquatics Championships in 1986, 2003 and 2013 – this is the first time the glitzy city of Ibiza will welcome the globe's best aquatic athletes to compete in azure-coloured waters.
The Ibiza event marks Spain's first time hosting an Open Water Swimming World Cup since Sevilla held one in 2007.
The midway mark of the 2025 World Cup sees the season return to the familiar waters of Setubal, Portugal – hosts of open water's annual tour 15 times since 2007 and the Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier events in 2012, 2016 and 2021. One week later, the seaside city on Portugal's southwest coast hosts a stage in European Aquatics' Open Water Cup.
Held beside the Sado Estuary Nature Reserve in the Atlantic Ocean, Setubal is known for challenging athletes with ocean currents and occasional breaking waves that open water swimming is renowned for. "Because there's waves and current, it takes a lot of strategy" to race is how Marc-Antoine Olivier – the men's defending overall Open Water Swimming World Cup champion – once described racing in Setubal.
"You have to race and react with what the others are doing," added Kristof Rasovszky, the Paris 2024 Olympic champion on racing in Setubal. "Of course, you have to catch up in the current, find your place in the waves and your place in the pack.
"Setubal", Rasovszky says, "is pure racing."
"Open water swimming is a big part of our culture, and we are always happy to welcome friends from around the world to compete," said Portuguese swimmer Tiago Campos.
The fourth season stop sees the Open Water Swimming World Cup tour return to Golfo Aranci, Italy—the pearl of Sardinia's eastern coast. An athlete favourite since the coastal village made its World Cup debut in 2023, the event returns for the third consecutive year in the upcoming annual tour.
"Sardinia is a second home for many of us who compete in open water swimming. It's always a joy to race there," said Germany's Leonie Beck, the 2023 Women's World Cup Overall champion.
World Aquatics will later confirm the fifth and final stop of the upcoming Open Water Swimming World Cup 2025 season.
"Every stop on the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup 2025 calendar offers something unique, from the crystal-clear waters of Soma Bay to two iconic Mediterranean venues and the thrill of racing in the Atlantic," said World Aquatics Open Water Swimming Technical Committee Chair S.A. "Sid" Cassidy. "With such exceptional World Cup hosts and the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore on the horizon, the upcoming season promises to be truly unforgettable for open water swimming."
Reigning Open Water Swimming Overall Champions
Seven-time world champion Ana Marcela Cunha from Brazil added another title to her incredible honours list by claiming an "amazing" overall crown following the 2024 World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup finale. Coming off the Paris 2024 Olympic cycle and her record-extending seventh Women's Open Water Swimming World Cup Overall award, Cunha told World Aquatics she will see if she's back for a 19th year racing open water elite for global titles and World Cup wins.
On the men's side, France's Marc-Antoine Olivier claimed the Men's Overall crown for the first time, marking a significant achievement in his career. The 28-year-old described the victory as a moment of "redemption" following a seventh-place finish at the Paris 2024 Olympics. As a two-time world champion and Olympic medallist from Rio 2016, Olivier now can set his sights on a second overall title in 2025.
In the 2024 World Cup Sprint Rankings, Italy's Ginevra Taddeucci secured the women's sprint title, while Olivier added the men's sprint honours to his overall crown, underscoring the Frenchman's standout season.
Brazilian talent dominated the World Cup junior rankings. Lizian Sobral claimed the junior women's title and Matheus Melecchi topped the junior men's standings, showcasing Brazil's depth in open water swimming.