SINGAPORE: Germany’s Florian Wellbrock and Japan’s Ichika Kajimoto wrote their names into the history books on Saturday, clinching golds in the inaugural 3km open water knockout sprint events at the World Aquatics Championships on Singapore’s Sentosa Island.

The newly introduced event saw swimmers progress through three elimination rounds — 1500m, 1000m, and a final 500m dash — with only the fastest surviving each stage.

Wellbrock, 27, completed a clean sweep of the men’s open water titles this week, adding the sprint crown to his earlier victories in the 10km and 5km races. The Olympic champion from Tokyo 2020 looked untou­chable from start to finish.

“The strategy was to have a good position in the 1500m and 1km, and being in the top position in the 500m,” said Wellbrock. “To be a good open water swimmer, you need the speed from the pool. We can use this speed for the final 500m, and that’s so nice.”

Wellbrock pulled away in the final stretch of the 500m to edge Hungary’s David Betlehem by 1.7 seconds. France’s Marc-Antoine Olivier, competing at his sixth World Championships, took bronze, matching his result from the 5km event.

With his third gold in Singapore, Wellbrock became the first swimmer in history to win three individual open water titles at a single edition of the World Championships. The German now holds 13 career World Championship medals, including nine golds, across pool and open water disciplines.

“It wasn’t my goal to come here for three golds, but it’s so nice to be on top of the podium three times in a row,” he said.

In the women’s event, 21-year-old Kajimoto timed her final sprint to perfection in a dramatic finish, despite losing her swim cap midway through the 500m.

“I lost my cap and I could not see my peripherals, but I just tried my hardest and fastest,” she said. “It was a very good result.”

Australia’s Moesha Johnson and Germany’s Isabel Gose exchanged the lead throughout the final but got caught in a duel that opened the door for Italy’s Ginevra Taddeucci and Kajimoto to surge late.

Kajimoto, who also won bronze in the 5km on Friday and claimed a surprise World Cup title in Portugal last month, surged through clean water to out-touch the field and claim Japan’s first-ever gold in the new event.

Taddeucci, 28, earned her third silver of the meet, while Johnson and Hungary’s Bettina Fabian shared bronze after an inseparable finish.

Elsewhere on Saturday, China’s world junior champion Xu Huiyan became a senior world champion, capturing the country’s first women’s solo technical gold medal at the World Aquatics Championships.

Xu, 19, who won four gold medals in June’s Artistic Swimming World Cup Super Final in China, claimed the victory with 272.9917 points. Competing as a neutral athlete, Belarus’ Vasilina Khandoshka took silver with 260.5416, and Spain’s Iris Tio Casas earned bronze with 260.2917.

In the men’s solo technical event, Russia’s Aleksandr Maltsev, competing as a neutral athlete, won gold with 251.7133 points in his solo debut. The artistic swimming veteran and multiple world champion in mixed duet was followed by Spain’s Dennis Gonzalez with 241.1667 and Mexico’s Diego Carrillo with 238.1600.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2025