Wellbrock Pioneers The First Four-Golds OW Worlds Campaign As Germany Mops Up
Celine Rieder, Oliver Klemet, Isabel Gose, Florian Wellbrock (after gold in the 10km, 5km & inaugural 3km knockout) of Germany claim the last gold of the Singapore 2025 World Championships in the 4x1500 relay at Sentosa, Italy and Hungary completing the podium.
The 4x1500m freestyle, the last stand in the Singapore 2025 World-Championships Open Water program, put Germany a the top of the medals table after the first of three weeks of aquatics showcase events.
Celine Rieder, was home in sixth, Oliver Klemet lifted Germany to second, and Isabel Gose handed the lead over to Florian Wellbrock, who in delivering gold took his own golden tally to set a number of record firsts, including an open-water standard of four victories in just five days, covering 19.5km of gruelling racing in 30C waters, the air hotter still.
Before and After: Celine Rieder, Oliver Klemet, Isabel Gose, Florian Wellbrock of Germany head into 4x1500 battle ... and emerge with gold - and a fourth title in five days for Wellbrock in Singapore - Photo: Copyright Giorgio Scala / DBM Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto - all rights reserved
Wellbrock emerged to say:
“I’m still speechless. I have no idea how I did it. We made history today. Yesterday I had a bit of problems falling asleep because I was so nervous. The relay is always special, with the different techniques from Hungary, from Italy. I’m absolutely proud of my team and our performance.”
Little wonder he needed medical attention after keeping Gregorio Paltrinieri at bay for gold ahead of Italian silver for the third time in four of his and Paltrinieri's races, and Hungarian bronze. Said Wellbrock:
“Yesterday, after the knockout sprint, I already felt like my body is done. Today, my body is done, done. I think it was a combination of empty body, emotional mind. One week of racing all events is really tough, especially with the pressure today. I was happy to finish my competition and it happened with a great performance. I just needed a little reset and then I’m ok.”
Summing up his campaign, he added:
“I arrived here in Singapore to have a great position in the 10k. All other events were like a bonus for me. After gold in the 10k, 5k, I could feel more pressure and was excited for the sprint, especially since it was my first knockout sprint. I had a new experience and today to finish with a fourth gold in the relay is unbelievable.
“The knockout race is very important for open water swimming to help us grow the sport, the community. Everybody was so excited about the race. You can feel the pressure from outside watching the race, it’s really important for our sport to grow.”
Wellbrock will race the 1500m freestyle on the last of eight days of racing in the pool in Singapore on August 3, granting him a 2 week recovery-rebuild period. Swimming gets underway in the pool a week today, Sunday, July 27.
Wellbrock's Golden Wonders:
- Wednesday, July 16 - 10km Gold
Craig Lord
- Friday, July 18 - 5km Gold
Craig Lord
- Saturday, July 19 - 3km Knockout
Craig Lord
- Sunday, July 20 - 4x1500m Mixed
Germany took gold in 1hr 9min 13.3sec, Italy finished second in 1:09:15.4, granting Gregorio Paltrinieri his third silver of the week, while Hungary grabbed bronze in 1:09:16.7. The line-ups and order of swims, followed by the top 8 finishing teams:
That gave Germany the helm of the Open Water medals table and, as yet, the championships as a whole, while Italy celebrated the most medals for one team, with six silvers, three to Paltrinieri (inc the relay, a crossover medal) and four to Ginerva Taddeucci, who finished runner-up to Australia's Moesha Johnson in the 10km and 5km battles, second to Ichika Kajimoto, of Japan in the 3km knockout, and second in today';s relay (a crossover medal that counts as one on the medals table for all team members).
World Championships, Open Water, Singapore 2025
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 2 | Australia | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | Japan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | China | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Neutral Athletes B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Italy | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 7 | Hungary | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 8 | Spain | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | Neutral Athletes A | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | France | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 11 | Mexico | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | Monaco | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Total medals awarded: 28 (9 Gold, 9 Silver, 10 Bronze)
Celine Rieder was elated, saying: “Everybody had a great effort, Florian finished strong, I won my first World Championships medal and I’m really happy about that.”
Olympic 1500m bronze medallist at Paris 2024, Isabel Gose, a member of coach Bernd Berkhahn's Magdeburg unit, the most decorated team in the world in distance freestyle swimming in Paris last year, said:
“Normally I come from the pool. This was my first time doing open water at a World Championships. Coming home with a gold, makes me really proud of the team. We did a great job.”
Teammate and training partner with Wellbrock and Gose, Oliver Klemet's reflected on his and Germany's campaign - and Wellbrock's soaring contribution:
“My first World Championships in 2022, the first race was the relay. We won that, and it was a good start for me. Here, for me it was not the best World Championships. I struggled a bit and was a bit unlucky in the 10k (fourth at the touch), But I think we did a really good job in preparing the line-up for the relay and all of us did what we had to do. If you have the best open water swimmer in history as your (anchor) in fourth position, then you don’t really need to do too much."
THE SOS FORUM:
Craig Lord
