The fourth stop of the 2026 Open Water Swimming World Cup will soon get underway on the Portuguese coastline, with action starting on June 20th. As the final stop of this year’s series, racing in Setúbal will determine the Men’s, Women’s and Junior Overall Leaders.
The venue - which has hosted the World Cup 16 times since 2007 - will host 105 athletes from 29 National Federations across two days of racing.
At the close of the season, the top eight athletes are awarded prize money - with the Overall Men’s and Women’s Leaders winning $50,000 each.
$10,000 will be awarded to the overall Sprint Leaders; the male and female athletes who have won the highest number of sprint laps (or first laps) within the 10km races. Lastly, the Junior Leaders (men and women) will receive $5,000 each.
Australia’s Moesha Johnson, who is currently ranked first in the overall standings, will feature in the Women’s 10km, alongside Spain’s Angela Martinez Guillen and Germany’s Lea Boy, who are in second and third position ahead of the event.
After what has been a stellar season so far, Johnson has a healthy lead over the rest of the field; sitting 650 points ahead of Guillen.
Johnson has won the 10km at every World Cup stop this year, collecting 800 points each time for her efforts. As the winner of the 10km in Setúbal last year, she undoubtedly enters this meet looking to continue her flawless winning streak.
One athlete who may be looking to upset those efforts is 2025 Overall Leader, Ginevra Taddeucci. The Italian won the overall trophy in spectacular fashion last year while racing on home soil in Golfo Aranci.
As the 10km silver medallist at the Setúbal stop last year, Taddeucci has shown great pedigree in not only her preferred warmer waters, but the cooler, choppier conditions of the Atlantic Ocean too.
France’s Caroline Jouisse rounded out the 10km podium in Setúbal in 2025. Jouisse - who also won bronze in the 10km at the previous stop in Sardinia - typically prefers cooler waters, and returns this weekend to what she previously described as ‘one of her favourite races’.
All to Play For in Men’s Rankings
Unlike the Women’s rankings, the Men’s table is extremely close with very little to differentiate the leading athletes.
France’s Marc-Antoine Olivier and Italy’s Andrea Filadelli are tied for first with 1700 points each, followed closely by Sacha Velly and David Betlehem who sit just behind with 1660 and 1630 points, respectively.
Olivier and Velly enjoyed a French 1-2 in the 10km at the Setúbal stop last year, and will no doubt be looking to feature on the podium again this weekend.
Of the top four athletes, Hungary’s Betlehem is the only one to have medalled at every stop this year; winning two silvers in Somabay (10km and 4x1500m Relay), two golds in Ibiza (10km and 3km Knockout Sprint) and gold in the 3km Knockout Sprint in Golfo Aranci.
One athlete who can never be removed from podium consideration is Germany’s Florian Wellbrock. Wellbrock, who became triple-World Champion in 2025, had a brilliant start to the World Cup season; winning both the 10km and the 4x1500m with Team Germany at the first stop in Somabay.
Having not raced at the third stop, Wellbrock currently sits in seventh position in the overall rankings.
In the Junior rankings, USA’s Brinkleigh Hansen and France’s Ethan Parker lead for the Women and Men, respectively.
Both have had brilliant seasons so far, with 16-year-old Hansen’s best result being two fifth-place finishes in the Women's 3km Knockout Sprint at the second and third stops.
For Parker, he celebrated an eighth-place finish in the same event in Ibiza, and comfortably leads the rankings by 1100 points.
When & Where to Watch
Action gets underway with the Women’s 10km race first, which kicks off at 11:00am local time on Saturday. The Men’s 10km race will follow at 4:30pm local time, before the joint medal ceremony at 7pm.
The horn will sound for the Women’s 3km Knockout Sprint at 10:30am on Sunday, followed swiftly by the Men’s edition at 12:30pm. The final medal ceremony of this year’s series will take place at 2:00pm.
Water conditions in the Atlantic Ocean are expected to be on the cooler side, predicted to sit around 18 degrees celsius. For details of where to watch the action live, click here.