History was written by Moesha Johnson in Setúbal today as she powered her way to victory in the Women’s 10km; cementing her position as Overall World Cup Leader for 2026. Hungary’s Bettina Fabian and Viktória Mihályvári-Farkas claimed silver and bronze in what was a race to remember.
It’s been a season of complete dominance from the Australian, who has reached a height no open water athlete has before - winning the 10km at every single World Cup stop.
Coupled with this, Johnson has also won every sprint lap (in the 10km) and every 3km Knockout Sprint event so far.
The result of the 3km Knockout Sprint race in Setúbal is yet to be determined; but if she repeats the same result, Johnson will have won every individual Women’s event this year.
‘Really Tough Race’
The 10km in Setúbal delivered tough racing conditions with plenty of lead changes and tactics on display.
After starting strong and winning the sprint lap yet again, Johnson settled back in the pack - maintaining a top seven position throughout the middle rounds.
Johnson took firm command of the race on the penultimate lap, making a very deliberate surge to the front to move from seventh position and eight seconds back right to the front of the race.
Speaking after her hard-fought win, she said: “I'm absolutely exhausted. That was a really tough race, I still can't breathe properly.
“But I set the expectation for myself to win everything, so I knew I just had to fight to the end and then I could be proud.”
Having come from an altitude camp with very high training miles, Johnson admitted she didn’t feel as ‘fresh’ today as she had at previous stops, explaining: “I was really, really struggling. I'm not feeling as fresh as I have in a lot of the other races.
“I'm quite tired and so I knew that it was going to be a long race, especially with the current, so I thought I had to save myself.
“Lap three and four, I was like ‘oh man, I'm out of this now’. But it just shows that you just have to fight to the end and you can prove everything wrong."
“The girls did really well today, and thanks to Setúbal for hosting us again and with such beautiful weather!”
‘Extremely Happy’ Fabian Wins Silver
Bettina Fabian secured her first individual World Cup medal of the season with her silver-medal win in Portugal; a result which she is ‘extremely happy’ with.
“I'm extremely happy,” she said. “Especially because of what happened last year when I had to take a break because of an injury. It was quite serious, so I couldn't really swim with it.
“This season was all about the comeback, to build myself up slowly and to not get injured again.
And I'm very happy with the result.”
Fabian took over the lead-position on the second lap, working well with her Hungarian team-mate before waving Mihályvári-Farkas to take over the lead on the fourth lap.
From there, the pace lifted, which split the original lead pack of ten athletes to just five; the podium finishers, Lea Boy and Ginevra Taddeucci.
Having maintained her position, Fabian pushed until the very end, sprinting alongside Johnson and touching the pad just one second behind to secure her eighth World Cup medal.
“The sprint finish gives me confidence for tomorrow, especially because I wasn't dying that much at the end.
“I felt like there's more in me, but I just couldn't be faster in that moment. Obviously tomorrow is a whole different race and the tactics are going to be different, but I'm looking forward to a good race tomorrow, too.
“I'm just really trying to be step by step with my future. I think that maybe next year I'm going to be even better because I'm still very young. So I still have time, but it's not stopping me from trying to be the best now.”
Mihályvári-Farkas Hails ‘Fresh Challenge’ of Open Water
Despite her background in pool swimming and being relatively new to the open water scene, Viktória Mihályvári-Farkas has hit the Open Water World Cup circuit with a bang this season.
A superb race today saw her securing bronze in a stacked field, and adds to her bronze medal from the same event in Ibiza earlier this year.
“I'm so happy with the result. It was a really hard race, but I enjoyed it and I'm really glad for the result.”
2026 marks her first year competing in the entire World Cup series; a new challenge which she is relishing.
“I really enjoy open water swimming and racing. I think this is actually better for me, but I do like the pool also."
“I’ve really enjoyed the World cup and this was my first full series, so next year I think I will come back again to the full series.”
Strong performances from Germany’s Lea Boy - who successfully maintained her third place finish in the overall rankings - and Italy’s Ginevra Taddeucci saw them touching in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Some forced individual efforts and fast sprinting from Angela Martinez Guillen resulted in a sixth place finish for the Spaniard, securing her second place standing in the Overall World Cup Leader rankings.
Gutsy swims from seventh-place finisher Caroline Laure Jouisse and Lisa Pou rounded out the top eight, who both feature in the top ten overall rankings (eighth and fifth, respectively).
The medallists in the Women’s 10km are all due to race the 3km Knockout Sprint event, which takes place at 10:30am local time on the final day of competition (June 21st).
For details of where to watch the action live, click here.