In front of her team, coaches, family and friends, Italy’s Ginevra Taddeucci was crowned Women’s World Cup Leader after she took gold in a thrilling 10km race.
The 28-year-old Italian claimed a poetic double victory on the shores of Golfo Aranci, touching the pad first in the Women’s 10km (1:58:56.50) to claim her first ever individual gold at a World Cup event. Her win saw her finish the series with 2600 points, awarding her the overall title for the first time in her career.
“I am very happy,” she said after the medal ceremony. “It was the perfect close to the year because of all the work I've done throughout the season and also because it was the easiest conditions I could ever find myself in. So I'm glad that I got to win the overall, and this was the best year to do it for me, so I'm very happy.”
The Italian crowd was out in force today to cheer her and her countrymates on, which Taddeucci said helped to boost her throughout the event. She said: “You get a lot of strength when you have a lot of people cheering for you; when you're entering the water, exiting the water, and you hear them cheering for you. It's a great, great feeling.”
She raised one finger in the air after emerging from the pontoon, signifying her win to the roaring crowd in front of her. “It's something I've always wanted to do,” she said. “Because I’ve never been first, so I decided that this time I was going to do that because I've always seen everyone do it and I wanted to do it as well.”
Taddeucci was a prominent force throughout the entire duration of the race, winning the sprint lap and firmly holding her position in the lead group from start to finish. Speaking on her tactics, she said: “My initial idea was to follow Moesha in the last two laps, but then I was a bit scared of being too far at the back. So I decided to just go for it, even if at some point I thought I was dying! But I didn't, so it was all good.”
The final hundred metres, similar to the men’s race earlier in the morning, delivered a nail-biting finish. A sprint finish between Ginevra and Klaudia Tarasiewicz went down to the wire, with the Italian commenting that she had to “sprint for the last minute, go full-on legs and just keep pushing.”
Klaudia Tarasiewicz Wins Silver in ‘Best Race of Her Life’
For Tarasiewicz, the Polish athlete had a monumental swim to claim silver in 1:58:57.20, just 0.70 behind first place.
The 21-year-old swam out of her skin in what she described as “the best race of her life”, adding: “The race was so great, I felt so strong, but after three laps, I worried that this race would be so hard, but I'm so happy that I finished this race with a great result - with the silver medal, I'm so surprised and happy.”
Speaking on her tactics, she said: “My plan was to stick with the front group, then every lap I was hoping that I would be in a better place. I started maybe in 10th then seventh place, and I was getting higher and higher. When I was swimming I thought ‘oh my god, I can't believe that I'm racing for first place!’
“I had a lot of emotions in the last line, not only physically but mentally too in my head, I was so happy and felt stronger and stronger. I'm so happy that I finished the race in a great place and that this plan worked too.”
Tarasiewicz, who also raced in the Somabay stop of the tour earlier this year (finishing 7th in the 10km), cited a change in coach and training group at the beginning of the year as a big reason for her success in 2025.
I changed coach in January,” she explained. “I started with this coach [Tomasz Grabysa] and he has a different mentality for swimming, for training, for everything. That's why I'm good in open water but I also started to do great times in the pool and I'm faster. It’s not very important to have great times in the pool for open water, but this is good for your head and I feel that's why I feel okay and great in the open water. We have a great team, so I'm looking forward to the 2026 open water season as well.”
Germany’s Lea Boy Claims 10th World Cup Medal
25-year-old Boy touched in third for bronze (1:59:00.60), marking her first individual World Cup medal from the Golfo Aranci World Cup stop. Her podium finish here also marks her third World Cup medal of the year, and cemented her as the third overall woman for the 10km - winning her $25,000 in the process.
Speaking after the race, she said: “I’m very happy. I think everybody knew which place they were in the overall ranking so everyone was looking at who is in front, who is behind - it was a super nice race. The sun came out, the rain stopped and the water was super clear - no better conditions anywhere.”
Tactically Boy ensured she was in the lead pack for this race, explaining that last year, she found herself towards the back of the field with too much work to do for a podium finish. “On the last lap, I knew I had to go or the prize money would go!”
After winning the inaugural 3km Knockout Sprint event in Ibiza and claiming bronze in the same event in Setúbal, she is looking forward to the event tomorrow. “I'm always last from the first round and then last from the second round so I just hope I finish in front in the last round.”
Relays & Knockout Still to Come
Tomorrow will see 12 teams competing in the Mixed 4x1500m Relay, which kicks off at 9am local / CEST time. The Men’s 3km Knockout Sprint event will follow at 3pm, with the Women’s 3km Knockout rounding out action in Sardinia from 5pm onwards.