The Open Water Swimming programme at the 22nd edition of the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore begins Tuesday morning with the 10km.
Last year, Europe dominated the Seine in Paris, with Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands coming out on top with a case for being the greatest open water swimmer ever. In the men’s race, it was Hungary’s Kristof Rasovszky singing his national anthem alongside teammate David Betlehem, with Germany’s Oliver Klemet on his feet.
This year at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, van Rouwendaal isn’t competing, and neither is 2023 champion Leonie Beck, leaving a wide open field for the 10km race Tuesday morning, the first race of the open water swimming programme on Sentosa Island.
Last year’s Olympic silver medalist, Moesha Johnson of Australia, appears to be the favourite in van Rouwendaal’s stead. Johnson and van Rouwendaal trained together in Germany with coach Bernd Berkhahn and Johnson won two of the three World Cup races this calendar year.
If anyone can take down Johnson, look for Italy’s Ginevra Taddeucci, the Olympic bronze medalist from last year as well as the overall World Cup leader this year. Taddeucci was second in both races where Johnson won and has the speed to hang for two hours with the Australian.
Spain’s Angela Martinez Guillen won the third World Cup race, where Johnson did not compete, as she is also a medal favourite for Tuesday’s 10km. If Johnson or Taddeucci falters, Martinez Guillen has the speed and pedigree to take advantage, as does Hungary’s Bettina Fabian. Once considered a rising star, Fabian has certainly risen into a contender, finishing fifth in the Olympics.
Earlier this year at the European Open Water Swimming Championships, it was the other Hungarian, Viktoria Mihalyvari-Farkas who came out on top over the likes of Taddeucci and Germany’s Lea Boy.
Mihalyvari-Farkas was a star on the junior circuit in the pool and has seen a lot of recent success in open water swimming, finishing highly at the World Cup this year. Boy has also been a force in the new 3km Knockout Sprint event, which is making its World Aquatics Championships debut in Singapore. The event consists of three, tournament style races - beginning with two heats of a 1500m, before one heat of a 1000m, and a winner-take-all 500m. Boy was a World Cup winner in that event over Fabian in April.
Boy has been sneaky good this year, winning the 10km at one of the World Cup races last year after the Olympics and could be an outside shot for a medal in the 10km on Tuesday, taking over for Beck’s gold in 2023. Jeannette Spiwoks is the other German entrant here in the 10km and is another outside shot for a medal.
It’s hard to talk about the women’s 10km race and not mention 2020 Olympic champion Ana Marcela Cunha of Brazil. Out of everything Cunha has accomplished in her career, she has yet to win the 10km World title, winning silver in Barcelona 2013 and three bronze medals in Kazan 2015, Budapest 2017, and 2022.
However, Cunha has hardly been her dominant self, and at age 33 is nearing the end of her career. In 2025, she can’t be counted out, but it will take a lot for her to come out on top of the podium.
One of the rising stars to watch in the women’s 10km is American Brinkleigh Hansen. At age 15, Hansen was last year’s World Junior champ in the 5km and comes from the same club as Olympic champ and world record holder Bobby Finke. Earlier this year, she was the US national champion and is making her senior international debut three years ahead of a home Olympics in Los Angeles.
Although 2028 is hardly in the forefront, it’s hard to not look at Hansen as an American fan and not be excited for what is to come. The United States has always had a breakout teenage star on its women’s team in the “year after” World Championships and Hansen is the next one, taking after the likes of Kate Ziegler (2005), Simone Manuel (2013) and Regan Smith (2017) who broke out the year after the Olympics at the World Championships. Hansen may not be ready for a podium finish yet, but she is certainly a name to watch moving forward.
In the men’s race on Wednesday morning, the entire Olympic podium is reuniting in Singapore. Rasovszky is the favorite here, winning the European title in May in his first win since the Olympics. There, he took down the French duo of Logan Fontaine and Marc-Antoine Olivier, who have been a force in open water swimming since their home Olympics.
Olivier is the current World Cup points leader in 2025, winning one of the three races on tap. Fontaine will not be racing the 10km, with Jules Wallart taking the second French quota spot. Olivier was the silver medalist in last year’s Worlds in Doha behind Rasovszky and also won silver in Gwangju 2019 and bronze in Budapest 2017. Olivier was the 5km champ back in Budapest 2017, but has yet to win a major 10km race and this looks to be his best chance to do so.
Along with Rasovszky, two additional former champions in this event will be racing in Singapore in 2019 and 2023 World champ Florian Wellbrock of Germany, and 2022 World champ Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy.
Wellbrock was also the 2020 Olympic champ and was the heavy favorite to repeat in 2024, but finished eighth. Already a winner of the first World Cup race in 2025, this would be a great redemption story for Wellbrock as only one swimmer has ever won three World titles in the same event - Yuri Kudinov in the 25km.
Paltrinieri will also be a favorite in the 10km, along with teammate Andrea Filadelli, who won one of the three World Cup races this year. Filadelli doesn’t have the pedigree of Paltrinieri or Wellbrock, but has beaten them head to head, and could certainly cause a stir if he is to win on Wednesday.
If there is an upset pick, it could be Great Britain’s Hector Pardoe, who was the bronze medalist in Doha last year and the sixth place finisher in Paris.
The women’s 10km will kick off the Open Water Swimming programme on Tuesday morning at 8:00 a.m. local time, with the men’s race following in the same time slot on Wednesday.
The women’s and men’s 5km will be swum Friday a.m. with the 3km Knockout Sprints on Saturday and the mixed 4x1500m finishing the week on Sunday.