It was a photo-finish in the Men’s 10km, which saw David Betlehem win gold over France’s Sacha Velly by just 0.2 of a second. His countrymate Marc-Antoine Olivier won bronze in what was an epic battle of strength, speed and tactics.
It was all to play for in the Men’s rankings ahead of the 10km, with the top athletes sitting within a few hundred points of each other.
But when the time came, it was Betlehem’s night in Portugal, one that saw him claiming both the 10km title and his first Overall World Cup Leader trophy.
A quick race - aided by a change in the afternoon current - saw reigning World Champion Florian Wellbrock taking the race out hard, winning the sprint lap for his efforts.
The mid-laps lead was held firmly by Olympic Champion, Kristof Rasovszky, who collaborated with Betlehem throughout the race to maintain a lead position.
Everything changed on the final lap - one which saw positions disrupted, the pack splitting and individual lines being taken into the finish.
Through the masses moved eventual medal winners, Sacha Velly and Marc-Antoine Olivier, with Velly very deliberating taking clear water and his own line into the finish.
A sprint ensued across the closing 600 metres, flipping between Betlehem and Velly who were both charging down the final straight.
‘Proud and Emotional’
Having gotten his hand to the touch-pad first, Betlehem secured his fourth individual gold medal of this season - something which he says he’s ‘very proud’ of.
“I was very emotional after it. It was very tough mentally because I knew that the French guys were going to be very tough to beat.
“In the last lap when I looked around I saw that Sasha and Marco were in front of me and next to me was the Italian Filadelli.
“So I thought, ‘the top four is around me, I'm freezing and I need to win it’. It was the only way I could win the overall was to win the race.
"I knew that I had prepared myself every day in training to win it.”
Having watched his teammate Bettina Fabian win silver in the morning’s event, Betlehem added: “In the morning I felt really great and then Bettina won a medal so I was really happy and I thought ‘if we’ve done the same training and if she was able to win a silver medal maybe, I can be on the podium and win a gold.’
Team France Round Out Podium
Velly added to his growing medal haul from this year, winning his tenth World Cup medal and adding to his silver and gold from the 10km at the Ibiza and Golfo Aranci stops.
His performance during this final stop delivered his most consistent season yet, and also secured his second place-overall win.
“It's been a very good season,” he said after the race. “The goal is to perform even better at the European Championships, but I'm very happy to have achieved three consecutive podium finishes. It's the first year I've had this many podiums, so it shows that I've been consistent.”
Speaking on the racing conditions in Setúbal, he added: “It was a really tough race, and in the end I preferred to move away and swim on my own because I was already very tired. I wanted to focus on my own swimming and really give everything I had in the final stretch.”
With four top-ten finishers, France continues to demonstrate its strength and consistency in open water swimming.
“It's great to share this with several French swimmers and to have four of us in the top ten.”
“We're part of a federation that has put the right structures in place to help us perform at a high level. It motivates us every day to swim fast and train well so we can perform in competition, because our nation is getting stronger and stronger.
“I want to thank them because they've put a lot in place to help everyone succeed. And we're not finished yet.”
‘New Generation Emerging’
Veteran Olivier followed up his stellar season with bronze behind Velly, achieving his 25th World Cup medal.
Though he admitted he was a little disappointed after the race, Olivier echoed Velly’s comments about the strength of Team France, and said the future of open water swimming in their nation is bright.
“A new generation is emerging...That's why I love continuing to swim, I had a great race with David, and Ethan was there with me too. I'm very happy to keep pushing and to find a way to win another medal this year."
“I'm very pleased to have been able to race alongside these two young guys. We'll see what happens with qualification for Los Angeles, because next year there will be the World Cup and the World Championships. There are many competitions and many strong swimmers, so I need to find solutions and keep improving.
With the European Championships taking place in Paris this coming August, attention for the French team now turns to their home meet.
“Whenever I race, I want to win,” said Olivier. “Still, I'm very happy with my season, which isn't over yet since we still have the European Championships in Paris this summer. I need to keep working on my training and my mindset, and we'll see what happens this summer.”