Wellbrock, Johnson claim Gold as delayed World Championship Races go ahead after water quality concerns

Germany’s Florian Wellbrock clinched victory in the men’s 10km open water event at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore on Wednesday, following a lengthy delay caused by substandard water quality at the Sentosa Island course.

The Olympic champion from Tokyo 2021 secured his third world title in open water swimming, finishing in 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 55.50 seconds after the race finally began at 1:00 pm local time (0500 GMT).

Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri came in second, 3.70 seconds behind, while Australia’s Kyle Lee took the bronze.

“It was really tough today. I think it was the warmest waters that we’ve had to race in,” Wellbrock said of the sea temperature, which hovered around 30 degrees Celsius.

“I had one year to prepare for this. We did a lot of heat training and I think that was the key today to me taking the gold.”

The event had been postponed earlier in the day after water quality tests showed bacteria levels that exceeded acceptable thresholds. The women’s 10km race, originally scheduled for Tuesday, was also delayed and rescheduled for Wednesday.

When the women’s race finally got underway at 4:00 pm (0800 GMT), Australia’s Moesha Johnson stormed to gold, adding to the silver she earned at last year’s Paris Olympics. She finished in 2 hours, 7 minutes, and 51.30 seconds.

Italy’s Ginevra Taddeucci, the Olympic bronze medallist from Paris, followed closely with a time of 2:07:59.70. Monaco’s Lisa Pou produced a surprise result, taking bronze in 2:07:57.50, after placing 18th at the Olympics last summer.

Earlier on Wednesday, World Aquatics announced that the new race times were subject to test results. A few hours later, the governing body confirmed both races would proceed after detecting “significant improvement” in water quality and temperature.

“Regular water quality monitoring and testing continues throughout the competition period to ensure athlete safety,” World Aquatics said in a statement.

“The health and safety of all participants continues to guide all competition-related decisions.”

The organisation reported that levels of E. coli had dropped to within the “good” to “excellent” range, as per standards set by World Aquatics and the World Health Organization.

Water contamination has posed persistent challenges for open water events. During the Paris Olympics, only five of 11 scheduled days of racing and training on the River Seine went ahead, despite a €1.4 billion effort to upgrade the city’s sewerage and water treatment systems.

The situation in Singapore, though initially concerning, was resolved in time for the top athletes to compete, ensuring that the medals were decided in fair and safe conditions.