The tiny principality of Monaco, the second-smallest sovereign state in the world after Vatican City, has won its first ever medal at the World Aquatics Championships.
Lisa Pou finished 3rd in the women’s 10km race on Wednesday in Singapore, about six second behind the champion Moesha Johnson of Australia. Pou, 26, was lodged between the lead pack and the chase pack, holding on for a podium finish as Maria de Valdes and Angela Martinez Guillen fell off the pace.
“This means a lot,” Pou said. “It wasn’t easy, especially at the start of this season, I had some trouble with my body. This is a good gift to end this season very well. It was really, really warm. Normally, I prefer to swim in 19 degrees Celsius, like some of the girls. Today was really tough for everyone. We overcame it and finished really good today.”
Pou was 18th at the Olympics last year and 9th at the World Championships in Doha.
Pou was born in France and represented them internationally, but she switched her sporting citizenship to Monaco in 2023.
Monaco, which has a population of under 40,000 citizens, has never won an Olympic medal of any color in any sport, summer or winter. In swimming, they have never had an Olympic finalist, with Pou’s 18th place finish being the country’s best. The country’s best pool finish came when Theo Druenne finished 28th in the 1500 free at the Tokyo Olympics. In fact, Pou became the first-ever Monegasque swimmer to qualify for the Olympics without Universality last year.
Monaco does, none-the-less count an Olympic finalist among their citizens: Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco Charlene, formerly Charlene Wittstock.
Like Pou, Wittstock is an import to Monaco: she was born in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and raised in South Africa from age 11 onward. She represented South Africa internationally in swimming, winning a relay silver at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and four medals (including three gold) at the 1999 All-Africa Games.
She also represented South Africa at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, 2002 World Short Course Championships, and 2000 Olympic Games. There, she finished 17th in the 100 back, 14th in the 200 back, and 5th as part of the South African women’s medley relay.
Wittstock met Prince Albert II of Monaco, himself a five-time Winter Olympian in bobsled, during the 2000 Mare Nostrum meet stop in Monaco. In 2011, the pair were married. They now have twin children.
2025 World Aquatics Championships Medals Table, Through Day 6
Open Water 10Ks are the only medal events so far.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Australia |
1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 |  Germany |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 |  Italy |
0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 |  Monaco |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (4 entries) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
Zimbabwe, South Africa, France, Monaco… Sounds like the female counterpart to Santo.
Pou only represented France before switching to Monaco. Princess Charlene of Monaco was born in Zimbabwe and represented S Africa (she never represented Monaco, but she married into that royal family.)
Reread the article. Some of it refers to Pou, some of it to Princess Charlene…
Reading comprehension is HARD!
Can someone give a brief introduction to Monaco? All I know about Monaco is that it has a football club in Ligue 1, one of the top five European leagues.
Small country between France and Italy. Super dense population wise. Famous for Monte Carlo of James Bond fame. Big tax haven (no personal income tax, except for French citizens) and low business taxes. 30% of the population are millionaires – so very, very wealthy place.
Economy is based around banking (tax haven), gambling, and money laundering.
Not part of the EU but is sort of affiliated – they use the Euro, for example.
They have their own language, but most of the country (and its government) speaks French, and many speak Italian too.
Ruled by the house of Grimaldi. Grace Kelly – Albert II’s mom – was the last princess consort. They’ve ruled Monaco since 1297. Been a member of… Read more »
I didn’t realize they had their own language. I wonder how much actually speak it on a day to day basis.
mare nostrum love story is crazy
Not sure there’s a great deal of love between Charlene and Albert, but it’s a nice romantic story.
I always thought it was sus
Wasn’t there something about her passport being confiscated before the wedding because she kept trying to escape?!
Well, he’s 20 years old than her. She’s also a bombshell and he’s… not. Which would maybe not be issues in and of themselves, but he also keeps having out of wedlock children coming out of the woodwork… OK just 2 confirmed, one of which was born during their relationship…
hello?? jesus