Johnson Keeps The Gold Rush Going With World Cup Double Season-Starter
Moesha Johnson provided half the confirmation that Bernd Berkhahn's squad in Magdeburg is the distance team to beat, the new World Cup season a golden double-double with training partner Florian Wellbrock
Australia’s Moesha Johnson enjoyed the perfect start to the Open Water World Cup season with victories over 10km and in the 3km Knockout Sprint event matching the same result in the men's events for training partner Florian Wellbrock:
Craig Lord
When Johnson topped Ichika Kajimoto, of Japan, and first-time World Cup medallist Lisa Pou, of Monaco, in the knockout in the Caribbean Sea off Cancun, Mexico, on Saturday, she kept a 2026 gold rush going.
Earlier this year, she completed a sweep of victories at all World Cup events of the previous season before taking the Pan Pacific Open Water Championships crown, and topping all events at the the national championships in the country of her main training base, Germany.
A member of coach Bernd Berkhahn's Magdeburg Might, Johnson spoke, through World Aquatics, of the bull run of the 2026 season:
“This win makes me undefeated in 2026. It’s pretty crazy, and I never came into this year expecting that.
“I don’t know if I, or anyone else will be able to do that again. Once I won yesterday, it made me want to go and complete the year like that.”
Having topped every single lap of all 10km World Cup races this year, she said:
“The plan this year was just to make some money,” Johnson joked. “But that’s just turned into my new tactic now. I’m grateful for the sprint lap because it’s challenged me in that way and it’s changed the athlete that I am and the race that we’re racing.”
In the 10km on Friday, Johnson fended off strong challenge get from Japan’s Airi Ebina and Italy’s Ginevra Taddeucci.
Johnson's Season Starter
3km Knockout
10km
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