Germany's Florian Wellbrock gets historic third open water swimming gold at World Championships
SINGAPORE - History was made in the heat and humidity at Sentosa's Palawan Beach on July 19, when Germany's Florian Wellbrock claimed the men's 3m knockout sprint gold at the World Aquatics Championships for his third title at the ongoing competition.
Winner of the 10km freestyle gold at the Tokyo Olympics, as well as multiple world and European titles, the 27-year-old has been dominant in the waters here since the open water swimming competition flagged off on July 16.
After clinching the 10km and 5km titles, he added another feather to his cap on July 19 when he topped his 3km knockout sprint heat, semi-final and final to finish in 5min 46 seconds for a hat-trick in Singapore.
The first open water swimmer to claim three golds in a single world championships, he could make it four on July 20 if he competes in the mixed relay 4x1,500m alongside German teammates Celine Rieder, Oliver Klemet, and Isabel Gose.
Wellbrock, who is also competing in indoor swimming at this championships and holds the short course world record in the 1,500m freestyle, said at the post-race press conference: 'I didn't expect it. It was a completely new situation for me to race the knockout race, so I had no idea how it worked, or what's the best position to start the new heat.
'But it was so much fun, especially at the end, when I could just jump in and go all out.'
Making its debut at the world event, the 3km knockout sprint is held in three stages, beginning with two 1,500m heats, where only the top ten from each heat advance to the semi-finals (1,000m). The top ten finishers then proceed to the final sprint of 500m.
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The new category received positive reviews from the swimmers, and though it is shorter than the 5km and 10km, it is still challenging as swimmers have to main speed and endurance throughout, with only 10 minutes of rest between the stages.
Wellbrock started strongly and never let up across the three stages to finish top, while Hungary's David Betlehem was second in 5:47.70, and France's Marc-Antoine Olivier placed third (5:51.10)
Olympic bronze medallist (10km) Betlehem, 21, was disappointed with his result after is performances in the 2025 season – he won gold in the knockout sprint of the Spanish leg of the Open Water Swimming World Cup, silver in the Portugal open, and bronze in the European Championships.
Nonetheless, he told The Straits Times that he was 'very happy' with the knockout sprint format.
'There's always a new start, there's always a clear end, so I have three chances to be the best,' he added.
The women's race saw a thrilling final sprint after two fiercely-contested heats and semi-finals.
Australia's Moesha Johnson, who claimed gold in the 5km and 10km, took an early lead in the final sprint, but failed in her bid for a third gold as she finished joint-third with Hungary's Bettina Fabian (6:23.10).
Despite losing her swimming cap during the 500m final, Ichika Kajimoto kept her cool to take top spot in 6:19.90 for Japan's first open water swimming gold at the championships. Italy's Ginevra Taddeucci clinched the silver in 6:21.90.
Kajimoto, who also won bronze in the 5km, said: 'It was a very difficult race, and I think I am a very lucky girl.'
Singaporean swimmers Chantal Liew (18:42.0) and Kate Ona (20:01.5) finished 14th and 22nd in their 3km knockout sprint heats, while Artyom Luksevits (17:50.0) and Luke Tan (18:53.3)were 17th and 25th.
Lukasevits said: 'This is a much faster-paced race, from start to finish. And it's a lot more tactical, fast in the end, fast in the front, and you kind of play around with the middle.'
Hungarian swimmer Fabian hopes to see the new event included in the Olympics.
She said: 'People who watch it, they enjoy it, and it's a very fun race so we enjoy it as well. Especially when it can show the athletes; how they prepare for the semifinal, for the final. I think it is a very entertaining story.'
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