The crystal blue waters of Sardinia’s coastline have welcomed athletes and coaches ahead of the final World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup stop of 2025, with racing getting underway on Friday.
126 athletes from 25 federations will compete across the 10km, 4x1500m relay, and 3km Knockout Sprint over two days of racing, which will also see the overall top-ranked male and female athletes from the series crowned and awarded $50,000 in prize money each.
Ginevra Taddeucci - Italy
Olympic bronze medallist Ginevra Taddeucci is currently ranked top female athlete (1800 points) ahead of this event after what’s been an incredible season for the 28-year-old. She is one of a 32-strong Italian team at this event, and will no doubt be vying for the illustrious World Cup leader trophy.
On the final stop being in Italy:
“I’m really excited and also have maybe a little bit of anxiety but it’s okay, it’s amazing that this is the last stop of the World Cup. It’s amazing to have it here in Italy, at the same time it’s a bit of a challenge because it’s the beginning of the season, but I’m hopeful and for me it’s a huge honour to participate alongside some amazing athletes.
On the 32-strong Italian team:
“I’m glad that they are giving the opportunity also to the younger people to take part in these events because I think that the more events of this kind that you do, the more you can improve. The fact that they are here it’s of course support on their side so it’s great.
On favouring warmer conditions:
“My comfort zone was in Singapore’s conditions. I prefer to have more competitions in warmer water and warmer weather because I loved the conditions in Singapore, unlike Setúbal and Ibiza because it’s much colder. Here it’s in between, it’s not cold but it’s not hot so it’s a good middle ground.”
Marc-Antoine Olivier - France
Fresh from his double bronze-medal winning performances at the World Championships in Singapore, France’s Marc-Antoine Olivier is looking forward to racing in the ‘beautiful’ waters of Golfo Aranci once again, having taken gold in the Men’s 10km here in 2024.
On how he is feeling ahead of the event:
“Yeah, I feel good. I think I competed too much at the beginning of the season because I started the last week of August with four competitions. Now [that] I have a baby, it's difficult to manage my life and my sport, but during the last two weeks, I’ve tried to manage myself to feel good for the World Cup and I hope I compete very well tomorrow.”
On the conditions:
“It's warmer [than Setúbal] and less choppy, hopefully. It’s very different because the water is more warm and the water is clear. It's very beautiful to swim here and it's a good place.”
On defending his 10km title from 2024:
“Last time I won here, so I hope I realise the same result. But every swimmer wants to win, so I need to have a good strategy to do my best.
On his race tactics:
“I think I need to protect myself for nine kilometers and try to have a [strong] last one kilometre - a strong finish.” Olivier will compete in all three events this weekend, and added: “It's important to come and try to do my best. The 10km is the most important, but yeah, I want to do my best across all the swims.”
Caroline Jouisse - France
10-time Open Water Swimming World Cup medallist, Caroline Jouisse, heads into Golfo Aranci in tied-fourth position in the overall rankings alongside Germany’s Lea Boy. Jouisse holds a bronze medal from the 4x1500m relay in Golfo Aranci back in 2023, and is set to complete in the 10km and 3km Knockout Sprint this weekend, with a potential appearance in the relay too.
On how she’s feeling and ‘perfect’ conditions in Sardinia:
Pretty good so I'm looking forward [to this weekend]. It's a lot warmer here than in Setúbal, less choppy hopefully. For now, the conditions are perfect - it's flat, the water is crystal clear. I love it when you can see the bottom and everything, it gets a bit distracting when we can see jellyfish! Even though I like colder water, here it’s perfectly fine. When it gets too warm it's a problem for me, but when it’s 23 degrees it's not too warm.
On her season so far:
Jouisse has raced in all four World Cup stops this year, having won a silver and bronze medal at the previous leg in Portugal. She took an extended break after the World Championships in Singapore in July, after what has been a long season for the French star.
“It's a long season and has been a bit exhausting mentally. When you arrive at the championships and you are failing because of the conditions, it's hard - at least it was hard for me - to recover mentally from it. Of course, we cannot have everything in our hands. We're doing open water so the conditions are changing. I'm coming into this race with a different mentality and I just have to adapt to where I am at the moment.”
Ana Marcela Cunha - Brazil
Open water swimming royalty, Ana Marcela Cunha, has a staggering 60 medals from Open Water World Cup events, stretching back to 2008 when she won her first in the 10km in Setúbal. The Olympic gold medallist from Tokyo won gold in the Women’s 10km last year in Golfo Aranci, and says now - having recently relocated to Rome - that racing here feels like ‘home’.
On racing in Italy:
“I’m feeling good. It's the last leg for the year, so we are happy for the place, for the sea, for the people. Now I'm living in Italia so for me, it's like home. Last year, I won the race, so I'm really excited to swim tomorrow.”
On the warmer conditions:
“It's kind of still and warm as well, it’s very flat out there. For me, if the water is more cold, it's better. I like more wind, like more choppiness. But it doesn't matter if we swim in 26 or 20 degrees, we need to swim fast. The water here it's perfect.”
On her racing schedule:
“For sure the 10km and the relay, and then after the relay, we can see if we swim the knockout. Of course 10kk is the most important for us because it's the Olympic distance, so we need to look in a different way for the 10km.
On big plans for next year:
Cunha revealed she has a big challenge planned for next year; swimming the English channel. Having been a veteran of the 25km distance, Cunha will switch focus back to long distance after this weekend’s event, before taking on the feat in July 2026.
“My mind after this 10k will change for the English Channel. We start to prepare for this after [Golfo Aranci]. The distance is 34km but in a direct line, so doesn’t consider currents etc. So maybe we swim eight or 10 hours. I was really happy when I swam in 25k in the world championships. Now, we don't have that anymore, but I feel better when I swim more distance, long distance, so I'm happy to be doing the English Channel. It's just me and myself, my mind, it's not a competition with anyone else. It's my race, I put this in my mind, so I think that it's a great time to do it.
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Big Time Awards and Prize Money on the Line
The World Cup Leader trophy will be awarded to the top male and female athletes who have accumulated the most points in the 10km event across the year. The prize money for first place is $50,000, second will receive $35,000, while third will be awarded $25,000. The top ten ranked male and female athletes will all receive prize money, and the World Cup Junior Leader will be awarded $5,000 (male & female athletes).
Racing Schedule
Racing in Golfo Aranci kicks off at 9am local time / CEST with the Men’s 10km race, followed by the Women’s 10km event at midday.