Moesha Johnson and Florian Wellbrock Win Final Stop On Open Water World Cup

Moesha Johnson and Florian Wellbrock claimed wins in the women’s and men’s 10K events at the last stop on the Open Water Swimming World Cup in Neom, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Ana Marcela Cunha and Marc-Antoine Olivier were confirmed as the winners of the overall Open Water World Cup.

Germany’s Leah Boy had a slim chance at catching Cunha in the overall rankings in Neom. Boy came into the final stop of the tour trailing Cunha by 402 points, meaning her only chance at the overall victory would’ve been to win the race with Cunha finishing no better than eighth.

Boy jumped on the race from the first lap, starting the opening lap fast with her teammate Jeannette Spiwoks.

Lia Pou and Ginevra Taddeucci traded the lead through the first laps of the race, but the race got a shakeup on the fourth lap as the field splintered into three groups. Johnson, the reigning Olympic silver medallist, to caught on the wrong side of the split, slipping from 3rd at the halfway mark to 22nd at the end of the fourth lap.

“Lap four was not fun, I came through probably last,” Johnson told World Aquatics. “On the back straight I picked a straight line and all of a sudden, the pack was gone and I was like, ‘ah well, here we go.’”

Her chosen line propelled her into an almost 18-second lead with one lap to go, with Taddeucci and Cunha trailing. Johnson extended her lead on the final lap, winning the race by 31.3 seconds.”

“The course looked quite smooth, but there are waves and a bit of a swell which knocked us about a little bit in that last straight when I was on my own and I was struggling to get my arms over, but I was happy with the outcome, obviously,” Johnson said.

Behind Johnson, Boy took second place, while Taddeucci won bronze. Cunha finished seventh, tallying enough points to secure her overall series victory.

The final stop of the Open Water Swimming World Cup was Wellbrock’s return to open water swimming since his eighth-place finish at the 2024 Olympics. He was well-positioned throughout the entire race, leading out the front of the field in the opening stages.

Olivier was well-placed as well, and though he was unable to match the impressive closing speed of World junior champion Sacha Velly, he was able to hold off charges from Dario Verani and Marcello Guidi and clinch the overall series win by touching in third.

Wellbrock won by four seconds ahead of Velly, with Olivier rounding out the podium.

“I love to compete at the front of the pack and use my speed from the pool and with the flat water, although it was a bit choppy at the end, it worked so good and I think it’s the perfect tactic for today,” Wellbrock told World Aquatics. “It was so important to race here especially after my disappointing Olympics and for sure I’m really excited to race in short course in December.”

Overall Series Rankings

Women

Overall Rank Country Name Total Points Event 1
EGY
Event 2
ITA
Event 3
POR
Event 4
HKG
Event 5
KSA
Overall Prize Money
1 BRA Ana Marcela
CUNHA
2750 500 800 700 350 400 59600
2 GER Lea
BOY
2648 450 98 800 600 700 45200
3 ITA Ginevra
TADDEUCCI
2200 550 350 700 600 32850
4 HUN Bettina
FABIAN
2150 700 450 500 500 27200
5 BRA Viviane
JUNGBLUT
2080 350 700 600 250 180 21150
6 AUS Moesha
JOHNSON
1950 350 800 800 7650
6 FRA Caroline Laure
JOUISSE
1950 400 500 550 300 200 16150
8 GER Jeannette
SPIWOKS
1550 150 300 550 550 11400
9 GER Leonie
BECK
1500 800 600 0 100 11000
10 MON Lisa
POU
1290 190 250 400 450 5650
11 FRA Ines
DELACROIX
1130 140 200 500 170 120 3000
12 ESP Angela
MARTINEZ GUILLEN
790 600 190 2500
13 BRA Cibelle
JUNGBLUT
702 400 200 102 950
14 ITA Veronica
SANTONI
660 150 170 180 160 0
15 POR Mafalda
ROSA
650 160 190 300 0
16 NED Sharon
VAN ROUWENDAAL
550 550 1700
17 JPN Airi
EBINA
530 400 130 950
18 USA Katie
GRIMES
500 500 1500
19 ESP Candela
SANCHEZ LORA
470 300 170 0
20 AUS Jacqueline
DAVISON-MCGOVERN
450 450 1200
20 GER Celine
RIEDER
450 200 250 0
20 POR Angelica
ANDRE
450 300 150 0
23 MEX Martha
SANDOVAL
358 250 108 0
24 JPN Ichika
KAJIMOTO
350 350 650
25 BRA Lizian
SOBRAL
342 140 104 98 0
26 AUS Bianca
CRISP
310 180 130 0
26 ITA Barbara
POZZOBON
310 180 130 0 0
28 HUN Anna
OLASZ
300 200 100 0
29 POR Mariana
MENDES
278 170 108 0
30 ITA Silvia
CICCARELLA
270 120 150 0
31 ESP Paula
OTERO FERNANDEZ
264 160 104 0
32 USA Mariah
DENIGAN
250 250 0
33 CZE Julie
PLESKOTOVA
210 104 106 0
34 AUS Chelsea
GUBECKA
190 190 0
34 GBR Leah Phoebe
CRISP
190 190 0
36 AUS Tayla
MARTIN
180 180 0
37 GER Fabienne
WENSKE
170 170 0
38 TPE Yu-Wen
TENG
160 160 0
38 USA Claire
WEINSTEIN
160 160 0
40 USA Brooke
TRAVIS
150 150 0
41 CHN Lilin
LIU
140 140 0
41 CHN Xin
XIN
140 140 0
41 ITA Giulia
GABBRIELLESCHI
140 0 140 0
44 EGY Lamees
ELSOKKARY
130 130 0
45 EGY Arwa
FAISAL MALEK
120 120 0
45 HKG Tsz Yin
NIP
120 120 0
47 CHN Shutong
WU
110 110 0
47 ESP Maria
DE VALDES
110 110 0
47 HUN Mira
SZIMCSAK
110 110 0
47 KAZ Mariya
FEDOTOVA
110 110 0
51 HKG Pac Tung Nikita
LAM
108 108 0
51 KAZ Darya
PUSHKO
108 108 0
53 EGY Shahd
SAMEH
106 106 0
53 PER Maria
BRAMONT-ARIAS
106 106 0
53 SGP Li-Shan Chantal
LIEW
106 106 0
56 EGY Zeina
AHMED MEDHAT
104 104 0
57 BRA Isabella
SCOPEL TRAMONTANA
102 102 0
57 EGY Nabila
HASSAN
102 102 0
57 ITA Sofie
CALLO VON PLATEN
102 102 0
60 BEL Camille
HENVEAUX
100 0 100 0
60 KAZ Ayazhan
AINABEKOVA
100 100 0
62 EGY Kenzy
HAZEM MONEEB
98 98 0
62 HKG Cheuk Ue Natalie
LAM
98 98 0
64 EGY Hoda
GAMAL SALAMA
96 96 0
64 HKG Wing Yan
TO
96 96 0
64 ITA Iris
MENCHINI
96 96 0
64 MAR Malak
MEQDAR
96 96 0
68 HKG Lok Mei
CHAN
94 94 0
68 ITA Emma
MICHELETTI
94 94 0
68 KAZ Aruna
SLAMGAZY
94 94 0
71 HKG So Yu
HO
92 92 0
71 ITA Renata
VIGANO’
92 92 0
71 KAZ Saida
YELEMES
92 92 0
74 ITA Elena
TORTORA
90 90 0 0
74 TPE Yi-Ling
WANG
90 90 0
76 ITA Letizia
GIOFFREDI
88 88 0
76 TPE Yu-Xuan
LIN
88 88 0
78 CHN Yihan
MAO
86 86 0
78 TPE Yung-Ling
TSAI
86 86 0
80 ITA Federica
SIRCHIA
84 84 0
80 TPE Zhi-Hui
LU
84 84 0
82 ITA Sara
PETROLLI
82 82 0
83 ITA Sara
PEDROCCO
80 80 0
84 ITA Sara
PEDEMONTE
78 78 0
85 ITA Silvia
DE SANTIS
76 76 0
86 ITA Maria Vittoria
SUISOLA
74 74 0
87 ITA Gaia
PICCIONE
72 72 0
88 ITA Silvia
MARCON
70 70 0
89 EST Evalotta Victoria
AABRAMS
68 68 0
90 BUL Theodora Sveta
SABEV
66 66 0

Men

Overall Rank Country Name Total Points Event 1
EGY
Event 2
ITA
Event 3
POR
Event 4
HKG
Event 5
KSA
Overall Prize Money
1 FRA Marc-Antoine
OLIVIER
3100 550 800 550 600 600 61900
2 ITA Dario
VERANI
2850 600 350 600 800 500 45650
3 ITA Marcello
GUIDI
2558 400 108 800 700 550 34150
4 ITA Andrea
FILADELLI
2350 300 500 700 500 350 26650
5 HUN Kristof
RASOVSZKY
1638 180 600 450 108 300 18700
6 ITA Pasquale
SANZULLO
1370 350 120 350 300 250 13300
7 CZE Martin
STRAKA
1060 190 100 400 200 170 8950
8 HUN David
BETLEHEM
1050 500 550 3200
9 ITA Ivan
GIOVANNONI
848 150 94 500 104 6500
10 GER Florian
WELLBROCK
800 800 3500
10 ITA Domenico
ACERENZA
800 800 3500
12 BRA Matheus
MELECCHI
784 140 106 250 98 190 3500
12 ITA Gregorio
PALTRINIERI
784 700 84 3000
14 FRA Jules
WALLART
750 450 300 1200
15 ITA Fabio
DALU
736 200 86 450 1200
16 ITA Mario
SANZULLO
734 160 190 120 104 160 1500
17 FRA Logan
FONTAINE
700 700 3000
17 FRA Sacha
VELLY
700 700 3000
19 AUS Kyle
LEE
550 550 1700
19 FRA Jean-Baptiste
CLUSMAN
550 150 400 950
21 AUS Thomas Edward
RAYMOND
518 68 450 1200
22 BRA Bernardo
GAVIOLI
470 190 100 180 0
23 AUS Nicholas
SLOMAN
460 300 160 0
24 ISR Matan
RODITI
450 450 1200
25 BRA Leonardo
BRANDT DE MACEDO
430 140 180 110 0
26 MEX Paulo
STREHLKE DELGADO
420 170 250 0
27 BEL Logan
VANHUYS
400 200 200 0
27 GBR Hector
PARDOE
400 400 950
27 USA Dylan
GRAVLEY
400 400 950
30 SUI Paul
NIEDERBERGER
350 350 650
31 BRA Luiz Felipe
LOUREIRO
340 170 170 0
32 POR Diogo
CARDOSO
320 0 180 140 0
33 SUI Christian
SCHREIBER
310 200 110 0
34 CZE Denis
BOROVKA
290 86 108 96 0
35 CZE Matej
KOZUBEK
284 0 100 86 98 0
36 POR Ricardo
SANTOS
256 106 150 0
37 ESP Carlos
GARACH BENITO
250 250 0
37 GBR Tobias Patrick
ROBINSON
250 250 0
39 AUS Bailey
ARMSTRONG
236 96 140 0
40 GER Niklas
FRACH
234 104 130 0 0
41 FRA Axel
REYMOND
228 98 130 0
42 GER Jonas
KUSCHE
210 120 90 0
42 POR Tiago
CAMPOS
210 110 100 0
44 AUS Rob
BONSALL
190 190 0
45 ITA Matteo
FURLAN
180 180 0
46 POL Piotr
WOZNIAK
170 170 0
47 FRA Emile
MESMACQUE
160 160 0
47 ITA Pasquale
GIORDANO
160 160 0
49 HUN Peter
GALICZ
154 94 60 0
50 BRA Lucas
MACHADO
150 0 0 150 0
50 ITA Giuseppe
ILARIO
150 150 0
50 ITA Marco
INGLIMA
150 92 58 0
53 ITA Alessio
OCCHIPINTI
140 140 0
54 BRA Henrique
FIGUEIRINHA
130 130 0
54 ESP Guillem
PUJOL
130 130 0
54 USA Luke
ELLIS
130 130 0
57 CHN Tianchen
LAN
120 120 0
57 JPN Kaito
TSUJIMORI
120 120 0
59 ESP Alejandro
PUEBLA MARTINEZ
110 110 0
59 ITA Vincenzo
CASO
110 110 0
61 AUT Jan
HERCOG
108 108 0
61 ESP Mateo
GARCIA CASTRO
108 108 0
63 AUT Luca
KARL
106 106 0
63 GER Oliver
KLEMET
106 106 0
63 NED Marcel
SCHOUTEN
106 0 0 0 106 0
66 ECU David
FARINANGO
104 104 0
66 TPE Cheng-Chi
CHO
104 104 0
68 CHN Junbohang
ZHAO
102 102 0
68 GER Arne
SCHUBERT
102 102 0
68 POL Bartosz
KAPALA
102 102 0
68 POR Francisco
AMARAL
102 102 0
68 SWE Victor
JOHANSSON
102 102 0
73 KAZ Lev
CHEREPANOV
100 100 0
74 IND Anurag
SINGH
98 98 0
74 JPN Taishin
MINAMIDE
98 98 0
76 GRE Ioannis
SKARIS
96 96 0
76 TPE Jun-Yan
TSAO
96 96 0
76 UKR Igor
CHERVYNSKIY
96 96 0
79 JPN Riku
TAKAKI
94 94 0
79 POR Tom S
SARREIRA
94 94 0
79 USA Gabe
MANTEUFEL
94 94 0
82 HKG William Yan
THORLEY
92 92 0
82 MON Esteban
FAURE
92 92 0
82 POR Bruno
LOUREIRO
92 92 0
82 VEN Ronaldo Eduardo
ZAMBRANO SANCHEZ
92 92 0 0
86 ESP Alberto
MARTINEZ
90 90 0
86 HKG Chin Ting Keith
SIN
90 90 0
86 NAM Nico
ESSLINGER
90 90 0
89 EGY Karim
MAGED
88 88 0
89 KOR Jaehun
PARK
88 88 0
89 KSA Mohammed Hani S
AL ZAKI
88 88 0
89 NOR Henrik
CHRISTIANSEN
88 88 0
93 SUD Adam
AHMED YACOUB AHMED
86 0 86 0
94 EGY Mazen
MOSATFA SHOKRY
84 84 0
94 HKG Tsun Hin
CHAN
84 84 0
94 SUD Omer
MOANI
84 84 0
97 EGY Mahmoud
HASSAN MOHAMED
82 82 0
97 HKG Lok Hei
TSANG
82 82 0
97 USA Ivan
PUSKOVITCH
82 82 0
100 GRE Spyridon
ANDREADIS
80 80 0
100 ITA Niccolo
RICCIARDI
80 80 0
100 KOR Junho
SUNG
80 80 0
103 ITA Federico
TAMBORRINO
78 78 0
103 KAZ Galymzhan
BALABEK
78 78 0
103 TPE Tsu-Huan
HSIAO
78 78 0
106 CHN Jinhou
ZHANG
76 76 0
106 EGY Sherif
REDA METWALLY
76 76 0
106 HKG Jacob Yat Nam
KWONG
76 76 0
109 EGY Mohamed
TAREK RASHAD
74 74 0
109 HKG Shing Hin
YU
74 74 0
109 ITA Lorenzo
CINQUEPALMI
74 74 0
112 EGY Yousseif
IHAB MOSTAFA
72 72 0
112 HKG Chak Fung Jaiden
LEE
72 72 0
112 ITA Tommaso Sebastiano
GALLESIO
72 72 0
115 EGY Yahia
HAZEM HUSSEIN
70 70 0
115 ITA Vincenzo
DEL VECCHIO
70 70 0
115 TPE Zhi-Rui
LIU
70 70 0
118 HKG Ho Yin
KWAN
68 68 0
119 ITA Simone
CAPOSTAGNO
66 66 0
119 TPE Shu-Cheng
LI
66 66 0
121 HKG Wai Lok
LAM
64 64 0
121 ITA Giovanni
LAURICELLA
64 64 0
123 CHN Peixin
LIU
62 62 0
123 HKG Chun Yin Jason
LI
62 62 0
125 TPE You-Wei
HE
60 60 0
126 TPE Ching-Hsun
LU
58 58 0
127 ITA Andrea
D’AGOSTINO
56 56 0
127 TPE Cheng-Yuan
YU
56 56 0
129 ITA Mattia
ANGIOLETTI
54 54 0
129 TPE Yen-Pin
HUNG
54 54 0

In This Story

6
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

6 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Chucky
3 hours ago

USA will never be consistently competitive in OW until they find a way to regularly attend these world cup events. No race experience at international level = no Olympic medals.

SHRKB8
Reply to  Chucky
1 hour ago

Australia in the same boat.

Joel
Reply to  SHRKB8
1 hour ago

Mo

Swammer
Reply to  Joel
1 hour ago

She trains in Magdeburg, Germany

Joel
Reply to  Swammer
19 minutes ago

True. There were some other Aussies there this year too though.

DK99
Reply to  Chucky
59 minutes ago

I’ve always thought they should incorporate open water in the NCAA the same way they have cross country nationals in athletics early in the season

About Sophie Kaufman

Sophie Kaufman

Sophie grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, which means yes, she does root for the Bruins, but try not to hold that against her. At 9, she joined her local club team because her best friend convinced her it would be fun. Shoulder surgery ended her competitive swimming days long ago, …

Read More »