Choppy waves ensured the men’s field stayed tightly packed during the Men’s 10km; something which the podium finishers concurred was the best tactic to take. 

Wellbrock maintained a leading position throughout, and passed through the first lap in second position behind sprint-lap winner, Marc-Antoine Olivier. 

The German’s trademark long and controlled stroke was easy to spot amongst the front of the field, where Betlehem also held a position in the front five throughout the race. 

Speaking after his win, 2020 Olympic Champion Wellbrock said: “It’s incredible, I started my season on the first of October, so I haven’t trained a lot. But I felt good, we had choppy water and it was pretty warm, but I think I’m good in these conditions, so I’m really happy. 

“I haven’t trained a lot and the tactic was to save a lot of energy, especially in the first 5km. 

“For the body it’s quite hard to compete in warm and choppy water because you lose a lot of energy, but I think I managed my body battery very well. 

“It’s just one race at the beginning of the season so there’s still so much work to do and it’s just the beginning; we have our Olympic qualification next year in Budapest so that’s an important one to focus on.”

Despite a water temperature of 28.6 degrees, the small, choppy and frequent waves replicated in part the type of conditions that can be expected at the next Olympic Games - something which bronze medallist Betlehem commented made for good practice. 

“It's not easy because you can’t calculate how the waves are going to come and when. So you need to adapt. 

“I think I need to find more races like this to be ready mentally when the waves can come anytime and anywhere.”

New Coach Spells Silver Success for Acarenza

Changing coach in September this year proved to be a fruitful move for Italy’s Domenico Acarenza, who powered his way to the silver medal on opening day.

Now part of a group training under Germano Proietti at the Federal Training Center in Ostia, Acarenza commented how special it was to start the season off strong. 

“The race was very tough, but I tried to swim easy and stay focused. In the race, I didn’t think about the other guys around me, I just tried to stay behind and follow Florian and keep going right until the end. 

“In September, I changed my coach, so this is my first race with him. It’s been a great change and it’s a good result today.”

Having spent an extended time out of the water due to a recent shoulder injury, Acarenza is now feeling closer to his best. 

“I’m still not at 100%, but this is the beginning of the season so it's okay. But in training, I feel very good, and I’m very happy with my medal. I tried to rediscover the fun of the sport while I was coming back, and I’m back to enjoying it now.” 

‘Great Start to the Season’ for last year’s Overall Leader

“It was a tough race,” commented bronze medallist David Betlehem, who himself suffered a short stint out of the water due to the illness before this race.

“The race was really hard, coming back to the start of the season is always mentally tough - just the return of racing and training. 

“If you push too much in the summer season, sometimes the body suffers; I’ve just recovered from an ear infection which forced me to miss nearly two weeks of training leading into this race.

“But I’m very happy with my medal and with this race, I would have happily taken this result before the race.”

Betlehem maintained a top five position throughout all six rounds, and added: “I think it's easier to be in the front. We maintained a good pace and everybody could draft on our feet because we couldn't swim any faster in these waves. 

“But I'm happy to have managed to always be in the top five, so it's a great way to start the season.”

Italy continued to show their pedigree in the sport as Marcello Guidi, Dario Verani, and Fabio Dalu finished in fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively. 

19-year-old Victor Moreno from Brazil posted a stellar swim to finish seventh overall - his highest ever World Cup result. 

Italy’s Andrea Filadelli was eighth while Argentina’s Lucas Ezequiel Alba finished ninth - also marking his best result at this level of the competition.

Tied in ninth was Frenchman Sacha Velly, while Mexico’s own Paulo Strehlke Delgado finished eleventh. 

Action continues next in the Women’s 10km, before the 3km Knockout Sprint events take place on 7 November. 

Details on where to watch the Open Water Swimming World Cup 2026/27 are available here.

Rights-free media content for the event is available to download from the World Aquatics Media Pool.