Florian Wellbrock of Germany powered to the top of the podium in the Men’s 10km, taking gold in the first of 77 medal events at the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion added another title to his growing legacy, claiming his seventh global gold in open water swimming. The 27-year-old clocked 1:59:55.5 to outlast Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri, who finished just 3.7 seconds back in 1:59:59.2. Paltrinieri, a six-time world champion across pool and open water, pushed Wellbrock right to the finish.
Germany nearly had two athletes on the podium, but Oliver Klemet was edged out at the line by Kyle Lee of Australia. Known for blazing finishing speed and near-perfect timing of his touch on the OMEGA touchpad, the 23-year-old Lee snatched bronze in a photo finish, 2:00:10.3 to Klemet’s 2:00:11.4.
Lee’s bronze marks his first individual medal at a global championship, though the Australian—born in Zimbabwe—has built a reputation for clutch performances. Most notably, he anchored Australia to gold in the Mixed 4x1500m Relay at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha.
With his trademark low-cadence tempo, silky-smooth stroke, and positioning at the front through much of the second half of the race, Wellbrock appeared to be in full control. But even one of the sport’s all-time greats admitted the effort was anything but easy.
“It was really tough today. I think it was the warmest waters that we’ve had to race in.”
Known for thriving in hot conditions - punctuated with wins in the summer heat and humidity of Japan (Olympic gold in the Men's Marathon at the Tokyo 2020 Games, and the two individual titles from the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka) Wellbrock made sure nothing was left to chance.
“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.”
As he surged into the finishing straight with Paltrinieri hot on his heels, the packed crowd was on its feet. The stadium announcer captured the moment perfectly:
“Two of the greatest to ever do it, duelling it out here.”
Wellbrock was well aware of who was right behind him.
“I knew Greg [Paltrinieri] was on my feet all the time. In the last lap, I saw it was Ollie [Klemet] and Greg on my back. It’s so dangerous when they’re so close, especially Greg—he always has such a great finish. I was really nervous and tried to push all the time.”
Paltrinieri, the Rio 2016 Olympic champion in the 1500m and bronze medallist in the 800m at Paris 2024, is one of the few swimmers capable of matching Wellbrock’s brutal, build-the-pace strategy and delivering a surge of strength and speed in the final metres.
“I tried to catch Flo [Wellbrock], but he was swimming really fast. I knew I had to try and get into the second position,” said the 30-year-old from Carpi. “On the last lap, I passed Kyle Lee in the middle on the way down, and then caught [Oliver] Klemet at the last buoy. I always try to save some energy for the last 200m.”
In the end, Paltrinieri didn’t quite have enough left to challenge for gold—but his silver marked his 17th career world championship medal and first since the Men’s 5km at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, where Wellbrock also took gold.
Wellbrock’s success was built on a measured approach through the early stages of the 1.66km loops in the waters off Singapore’s Sentosa Island.
“I tried to stay in the back and pace myself early in the race. You have to listen to your rhythm and your body. And of course, save some energy for the last lap.”
Kyle Lee, still breathless in the mixed zone, called his performance an “utter shock.”
“Coming in, we knew that it was going to be tough conditions, but that’s the special thing about open water swimming. We trained for this—we had a staging camp to help prepare for these harsh conditions.
I’m in shock. Coming into this race, looking at the start list, you know there are so many good boys. So stacked. Even in the race, there was never a point where I knew I'd get a medal. To get that outcome, to come out on top of Ollie Klemet who has so much speed—I’m in shock.”
Just missing the podium was Austria’s Luca Karl, who handled the result with grace and a beaming smile, soaking in interview after interview.
“This is what you dream of as a kid. You’d lie there in bed and hope to feel like I do right now. I feel like I am about to wake up from this daydream. I’m without words with what just happened there—except to give a big thank you to my coaches who I’ve been working with back home. We’ve been working hard on making this a reality for the past 10 years.”