2026 Open Water World Cup Stop 2
- April 24-25, 2026
- Ibiza, Islas Baleares, Spain
- Meet Central
The dust has settled on the second stop of the 2026 Open Water Cup. The weekend’s biggest winners were two of the sport’s biggest stars, Moesha Johnson of Australia and David Betlehem of Hungary. Both figures swept the weekend’s events, the 10k and 3k sprint knockout.
Friday brought us the 10k, the sport’s premiere event. The women hit the Mediterranean Sea first, with Johnson setting the pace in the cold, wavy water. The Aussie, who won the last World Cup 10k by nearly a minute, had a star-studded pack of Europeans nipping at her heels time around. This included Spaniard Angela Martinez, who won the 2025 Ibiza stop. Lisa Pou (MON), Ginevra Taddeucci (ITA), Viktoria Mihalyvari (HUN), and Lea Boy (GER) were also in the leading pack.
The group separated towards the tail end of the race, and Johnson hit the finish line first. Approximately five seconds separated each of the first four women, with Martinez hitting second, Mihalyvari third, and Pou fourth. Martinez celebrated a second straight year of homefield medals, while Mihalyvari scored her first ever individual World Cup medal.
“I pushed the pace more than usual,” Johnson told World Aquatics. “In cold water, your heart rate drops, so I was trying to keep it high to stay warm. I was really racing the conditions first, and then thinking about tactics second.” The water was reportedly around 18 degree Celsius, or 65 degrees Fahrenheit.
Johnson once again took control of the suboptimal conditions on Saturday by winning the 3k sprint knockout. Boy, who skipped the German pool nationals to be here, reaped silver after leading the second of three legs. The bronze went to Japan’s top open water swimmer Ichika Kajimoto, who finished one tenth ahead of Hungarian Bettina Fabian.
The men also had a two-for-two champion in 22-year-old David Betlehem. Like Johnson, he made the best of the cold conditions. Unlike Johnson, he did not lead for most of the race. Instead, he had a courageous last lap which saw him move up five places for his second ever World Cup 10k gold. Rounding out the medal podium was Frenchman and 2024 World Junior Champion Sacha Velly. He has now earned one individual world cup medal in each of the last three calendar years. Last year’s Ibiza champion Andrea Viladelli, who competes for Italy, rounded out the 10k podium.
The next day saw a podium with Betlehem on top accompanied by a different Italian and Frenchman. All-time great Gregorio Paltrinieri fought his way to silver, while Marc-Antoine Olivier climbed the ranks in the last round to bronze.
World Ranking Update
Johnson and Betlehem, who already ranked #1 in their respective gender for world rankings, only increased that gap with their trip to Spain. Though they had a weekend with no medals, Ginevra Taddeucci and Florian Wellbrock maintained their #2 positions. Kajimoto, who is 22 years old, climbed up to a career-high of #3, driven in part by her 3k knockout medal. Mihalyvari (#5 woman), Martinez (#6 woman), and Velly (#9 men) also enjoyed point and ranking ascensions.
See the full rankings list here.
All elite open water athletes have a quick turnaround for the next stop in Golfo Aranci, Italy, which kicks off this Friday.
For an update on the American Pan Pacs team, which was in part determined by Ibiza performances, click here.
Why is it that that US has the hardest time finding spots on the podium in open water? We have seen some get on the podium 2019 and before, but since 2022, it’s been hard pressed to find an American in the top 3 at any worlds or Olympic 10km
I was in Greece this weekend and while the weather was lovely, the Med is cold right now. 16, 17°C here in the Aegean.
I just did a short lap around this tiny island in front of my house, maybe 15 minutes, and then had to take a long hot shower. OW swimmers are heroes and I’m a whimp 🙂
I love watching the OW World Cup streams. Got dizzy-sea sickish-watching the mens 10k with rolling swells throughout the entire circuit. Watched the womens 3k Shootout and highly recommend anyone interested to find the replay on Eurovision/Eurosport. 63F/18C water. The day after a 10k. Brinkleigh Hansen aggressively competing finishing 5th after getting on Moesha Johnson’s hip (more like her Lat, she was so tucked in). If you find the replay the semifinal and final rounds are great fun.
Moesha has a huge opportunity for gold in LA
I hope so too!
Damn the US is just not good at OW are we
Actually I thought the US did particularly well in the conditions, the cold, the swell and the travel. Remember the majority of Europeans are on a very similar time zone with not much more than a few hours flight time to get to Ibiza so way less to contend with and more than likely able to cold water adapt with temperatures very similar to Ibiza in their home towns.
The water was cold for everyone. And a Japanese swimmer came third…
Moesha Johnson is Australian.
Australia has warmer water than USA and has bigger timezone gap.
How come she won not once, but twice.
Unless something changed recently, Moesha Johnson is based in Germany, right?
She’s also just a better swimmer lol.
Following her silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, she moved her Australian training base to the Miami Swim Club on the Southern Gold Coast to be closer to her home region.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-25/moesha-johnson-australian-swimming-championships/105208264
Hence, the excuses do not hold.
According to her social media, she has been in Germany for ages. Presumably Miami is her club, and a base in that sense. She trains with the German distance swimmers in Magdeburg with coach Bernd Berkhahn
https://www.swimming.org.au/performance/dolphins/athletes/moesha-johnson
Yeah….she may have moved her Australian training base, but she definitely trains primarily in Germany.
Americans can base themselves in Europe like Moesha, if they really think this is the issue!!!!
That’s just her domestic club for when she’s in Australia which she rarely is.
For someone who gets so angry whenever Americans bring up Americans in response to threads about Australians…this reply feels like the pot calling the kettle black.
Which part of my comment that is incorrect?
And I’ve praised American swimmers a lot.
You on the other hand, always baselessly talks trash about non American swimmers.
Link?
She lives and trains in Germany, and has for some time. As it has been winter in Germany, she has been pool training!
We have some excellent athletes, but USA Swimming does the absolute bare minimum for OW. There is nothing on the front page of their website about this event. I don’t see anything on social media. I don’t even know if we have an Open Water Director any more. They’re not making much of an attempt to draw interest from future generations. Our athletes are doing a pretty good job given the lack of support from their own NGB.