Florian Wellbrock is the first open water swimmer to win four gold medals at a World Cup. The Magdeburger is also the first to strike in the season.
In his “bathtub”, Florian Wellbrock stretched four fingers into the morning sky of Singapore. Then the open water dominator pulled astonishingly lively out of the warm water, tore up both arms, hugged his teammates.
Again, the 27 -year -old had swim away from all opponents at the Palawan Beach – merciless and seemingly effortless. One year after his Olympic debacle, the deeply sunken swimming star reappeared: as an invincible one who – stronger than ever – set new standards.
“I absolutely didn’t expect that”
“Four gold medals in four races, that’s incredible. I absolutely didn’t expect that,” said Tokyo’s Olympic champion 2020 after the sovereign victory on Sunday (July 20, 2025) with the mixed season and admitted: “I couldn’t sleep well yesterday because I was so nervous. I knew we can write history.”
After his impressive triumphals, Wellbrock was not crowned by five and ten kilometers and in the newly created knock-out sprint to the first four-time world champion in the open water history.
Always a higher gear
Even in the last race in over 30 degrees warm water from the island of Sentosa, the “professor”, as he is called because of his perfectionism in the scene, confidently fought off every attack by his competitors, and still found a higher gear. That is why Celine Rieder, Oliver Klemet and Isabel Gose, who had swim before him, had no doubt.
Klemet hands over as second
“We wanted to give Florian the lead,” said the Olympic second Klemet, who had handed over to Gose in second after the second round over 1,500 meters, “we did it so that he could do his job.”
Gose swims out almost ten seconds lead
The World Cup debutant Gose, in Paris’s bronze medalist over the same distance in the pool, took over the top and swam a lead of almost ten seconds. The rated Wellbrock to make his tenth World Cup title perfect, even if his eternal rival Gregorio Paltrinieri caught up again.
“In the end I was startled,” reported Wellbrock, who had actually expected the Frenchman Logan Fontaine behind in the final sprint: “I looked around and noticed, it is Greg. I knew: no more time for games.”