Velly’s historic gold headlines dominant European show at Golfo Aranci Open Water Swimming World Cup

European athletes produced one other commanding weekend of open water racing on the third leg of the 2026 World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup in Golfo Aranci, with France’s Sacha Velly claiming the standout results of the meet by profitable his first ever 10km World Cup title.

Building on the momentum generated on the second cease in Ibiza final weekend, the place European swimmers had dominated the rostrum positions, the continent’s athletes arrived in Sardinia in fantastic kind and delivered comprehensively throughout each days of competitors.

The males’s 10km on Friday morning produced one of many weekend’s most memorable moments as Velly lastly transformed his constant top-end performances into outright victory on the World Cup circuit. The 21-year-old, who had gained silver on the earlier cease in Ibiza, timed his race to perfection, resisting the temptation to overcommit early and as an alternative hanging decisively within the last kilometre.

He was engaged in an intense three-way battle for the medals alongside compatriot Marc-Antoine Olivier and Italy’s Andrea Filadelli, they usually got here into the funnel stroke-for-stroke. It got here all the way down to timing of the contact, and Velly’s half-stroke proved decisive as he took the victory, a lot to his seen delight.

Olivier completed simply 0.2 seconds behind, with Filadelli half a second additional again nonetheless.

Olivier, who has 23 World Cup medals to his identify, took silver, extending a exceptional document that has stored him among the many world’s elite for over a decade. Italy’s Andrea Filadelli, racing in entrance of his residence crowd, matched his bronze medal from Ibiza to take third, with compatriot Ivan Giovannoni reaching his best-ever particular person World Cup end in fourth.

Great Britain’s Hector Pardoe delivered a fantastic fifth-place end, with France’s Logan Fontaine sixth. Hungary’s reigning Olympic champion within the occasion Kristof Rasovszky took eighth, and Germany’s Oliver Klemet rounded out the European illustration in tenth.

The girls’s 10km introduced one other wonderful set of European outcomes, with Spain’s Angela Martinez Guillen claiming silver after a composed and tactically astute efficiency, ending 25 seconds behind winner Moesha Johnson of Australia, who herself has emerged because the standout performer within the self-discipline.

France’s Caroline Laure Jouisse returned to the rostrum in third, edging out Germany’s Lea Boy in fourth by simply 1.4 seconds in a tightly bunched end that noticed a handful of athletes end throughout the medals.

Monaco’s Lisa Pou, constructing on her fourth-place end in Ibiza, crossed in fifth. Hungary’s Bettina Fabian adopted in eighth, whereas Spain’s Maria de Valdes accomplished the European illustration within the prime ten in tenth place.

Saturday’s Mixed 4x1500m Relay produced an exciting opening to the day with Italy edging France by a single second to say gold. Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy’s most embellished open water swimmer, anchored the profitable quartet alongside Giulia Berton, Ginevra Taddeucci, and Filadelli, executing a attribute surge to move Olivier on the ultimate lap and maintain on for victory.

France have been left to accept silver in a consequence that nonetheless confirmed their credentials as one of many continent’s strongest relay nations. The line-up of Jouisse, Velly, Clemence Coccordano, and Olivier – virtually an identical to the aspect that gained this occasion in 2025 – held their nerve all through a aggressive contest.

A second Italian group, comprising Elena Tortora, Alessia Ossoli, Marcello Guidi, and Giovannoni, completed fourth, with Spain only a split-second behind in fifth.

Hungary’s David Betlehem closed out the weekend in essentially the most becoming vogue attainable, profitable the Men’s 3km Knockout Sprint so as to add to his double from Ibiza as he continued to stake his declare because the self-discipline’s foremost dash specialist.

It proved to be his fifth World Cup medal within the knockout dash format because the occasion’s introduction, and his second win in Golfo Aranci, having claimed victory on the identical venue final yr.

Paltrinieri, contemporary from anchoring Italy to relay gold earlier within the day, continued in Rolls-Royce-like vogue by including a dash bronze to his assortment. Germany’s Oliver Klemet completed fourth, with Italy offering additional finalists by way of Filadelli in fifth, Guidi in sixth, and Davide Marchello in ninth.

The Women’s 3km Knockout Sprint introduced the weekend to an exciting conclusion and delivered two milestone performances from European athletes.

Germany’s Isabel Gose continued her surge to prominence on the open water circuit as she took her first particular person World Cup medal by taking silver, simply over a second behind Johnson. The consequence was particularly significant for Gose, who has made the transition from pool to open water alongside her coaching companion Johnson.

Spain’s Paula Otero Fernandez, 22, seemed thrilled together with her consequence as she got here in for bronze with clear water between her and Boy in fourth. She held agency as Gose and Johnson edged clear on the ultimate lap, swimming with composure and conviction to safe the rostrum place. Fabian positioned seventh, with Guillen eighth and Italy’s Rebecca Rimoldi tenth.

The general standings heading into the ultimate cease in Setúbal, Portugal (June 20–21) make for compelling studying from a European perspective. In the boys’s rankings, Marc-Antoine Olivier and Andrea Filadelli share the lead on 1,700 factors, with Velly shut behind on 1,660 and Betlehem fourth on 1,630, which means 4 European athletes are all in reasonable competition for the general title.

In the ladies’s standings, Spain’s Angela Martinez Guillen sits second with 1,750 factors, whereas Germany’s Lea Boy is third on 1,550, each firmly within the hunt because the season reaches its climax.

Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics