Australia’s Moesha Johnson was dominant in the Women’s 10km, establishing a healthy lead on the first lap and never relinquishing it despite the best efforts of silver medal winner, Angela Martinez Guillen, and bronze medallist Caroline Laure Jouisse.
Johnson’s win today was well and truly her own after she carved out a 20-second lead on the first lap; one that she would actually extend throughout the race.
With water temperatures dictating a wetsuit swim, Johnson said she ‘surprised’ herself with how well she performed in her first-ever wetsuit race.
“A wetsuit race threw a bit of a curveball. I've never raced in a wetsuit, so I didn't know how that would affect me. But I know I'm strong, I've been in good form for a while now.”
Johnson took the race out hard, sprinting ahead of the field in the early metres to also take the $1,000 sprint lap win. However, she explained that creating such a gap so early on wasn’t exactly the plan.
“I turned around at the third can [buoy] and I thought ‘oh, there's a gap!’ I had no idea that there was a gap behind me. So from there, I know that once I'm by myself, I'm pretty hard to catch. So I just really tried to save my shoulders in the wetsuit, and save my energy for the end of the race.”
What would follow was a complete solo-effort by the double World Champion, who has had a perfect record so far in the 2026 World Cup; winning the 10km in all three stops.
Despite having such a strong lead from the beginning of the race, she never became complacent, adding: “I knew the gap was there, but I also know that anything can happen. My coaches were yelling at me on the pontoon saying "save the gas” and I thought, "hell no!"
“I just know anything can happen and I don't ever want to take things for granted, no matter how big the lead is. It was only at the end that I kind of turned it off and just wanted to enjoy the win, I’m very happy with it.”
Johnson commended her competitors, acknowledging that the tactic she employed forced a chase amongst the rest of the pack. “The rest of the girls, hats off to them, they really had a strong race as well.
“They maintained the same gap the whole way and I think that's pretty impressive to fight through that.”
Martinez Guillen Backs Up Silver From Ibiza
Angela Martinez Guillen made it a repeat of the gold and silver medal winners from Ibiza as she touched home second behind Johnson.
The Spaniard maintained a top five position throughout the second half of the race, but found herself having to fight back from 16th place after the opening laps.
Speaking on her win - which takes her World Cup medal haul to five - she said:
“I tried to do a progressive race, and that's what I always do."
And fortunately, it was good today, but some races it doesn’t work.”
The wetsuit swim was also a new experience for her, explaining that she hasn’t swum in one for three years. Despite her lack of experience with them, the wetsuit and cooler waters didn’t deter her in the slightest.
Having won a medal (individual and relay) at every stop so far this year, her eyes now turn to the final stop in Setúbal. “It's true that every race is different. Setúbal is very different from this race because it's more like open water swimming, I think. It has more waves, and the water is colder. So, I don't know what will happen, but I will try to win.”
Jouisse Powers to Bronze
France’s Caroline Laure Jouisse was back in medal-winning form; a result that means much more to her than just silverware.
“It's been a very hard year for me, very tough mentally” she said. “So I'm glad I could put that race out after all the struggle I've been through, I’m happy with the result and to have some confidence back.”
Having gone through the first lap in 29th position, Jouisse had some work to do to climb to the front of the pack. She put the effort in on the second lap to do just that, and worked with athletes like Martinez, Lisa Pou, Lea Boy and Brinkleigh Hansen at the front of the chase group.
An incredibly strong final lap delivered her podium-worthy finish, touching just over a second ahead of fourth place, Boy. In fifth was Monaco’s Pou, and Hansen enjoyed her best-ever 10km result in a World Cup with sixth. Seventh went to 3km Knockout Sprint World Champion, Ichika Kajimoto, while Bettina Fabian, Mariah Denigan, and Maria de Valdes rounded out the top ten.
For Jouisse, her bronze today marked her 13th World Cup medal. She has consistently featured in the top rankings since her first World Cup medal win in 2019, but says she’s takes things one race at a time.
“I just take it one race at a time, but I know I've been pretty consistent. My dad actually counted recently and I've done 66 races now and I've always been in the top two French athletes since 2022. So I'm super happy with what happened today and finishing third.”
Jouisse, who won bronze in the 3km Knockout Sprint event in Golfo Aranci last year, will compete in that race tomorrow alongside fellow medal winners Johnson and Martinez Guillen.
16-year-old Brinkleigh Hansen, who topped the junior rankings today with her sixth place finish, will also compete in tomorrow’s Knockout - an event that she finished fifth in in Ibiza.
Action will continue on the second day of competition with the Mixed 4x1500m Relay kicking things off at 9:00am (local time), followed by the Men’s 3km Knockout Sprint at 3:00pm and the Women’s 3km Knockout Sprint at 5:00pm. For details of where to watch, click here.