Ana Cunha & Marc-Antoine Olivier Crowned World Cup Champions; Johnson & Wellbrock Claim Finale Wins
Ana Cunha and Marc-Antoine Olivier clinched the overall Open Water World Cup 2024 titles following the season-ending race in Neom, Saudi Arabia.
Cunha of Brazil was seventh in the women’s race to finish with 2750pts ahead of Germany’s Lea Boy (2648) and Ginevra Taddeucci of Italy (2200).
Olivier was third in the men’s event to claim the crown with 3100pts in front of Italian pair Dario Verani (2850) and Marcello Guidi (2558).
Moesha Johnson of Australia won her second straight World Cup race to finish sixth overall, capping a year in which she won Olympic silver and world team gold.
Florian Wellbrock was first in the men’s event with the German competing for the first time since finishing eighth in the River Seine at Paris 2024.
Johnson Caps Excellent Year
Cunha led Boy by 402pts in the overall World Cup standings coming into the season finale which meant the German had to win and hope the Tokyo Olympic champion didn’t come any higher than eighth if she was to pip the Brazilian to the crown.
Johnson slipped from third at the halfway stage to 22nd at the end of the fourth, but the pack was so congested that she was only just over 10 seconds off the temporary leader Ichika Kajimoto.
The Australian moved to the front of the field and held a 17.8sec lead going into the final lap ahead of Olympic bronze medallist Taddeucci, with Cunha up to third.
Moesha Johnson Photo Courtesy: Wade Brennan Photography (Wade’s Photos).
Johnson then powered clear of her rivals to take a clear victory by 31.3secs in 1:58:52.20 with Boy taking second in a sprint finish in 1:59:23.50 ahead of Taddeucci (1:59:24.10).
Jeanette Spiwoks took fourth, with Bettina Fabian fifth, Lisa Pou sixth and Cunha seventh to secure the crown.
It was a second consecutive win for Johnson following victory in the penultimate leg in Hong Kong last month and she told World Aquatics: “I’m happy that the (open water) year is done with quite a success.
“Lap four was not fun, I came through probably last. On the backstraight I picked a straight line and all of a sudden, the pack was gone and I was like, ‘ah well, here we go!’
“The course looks quite smooth, but there are waves and a bit of a swell which knocked us about a little bit in that last straight when I was on my own and I was struggling to get my arms over, but I was happy with the outcome, obviously.”
Wellbrock Returns To Winning Ways
Wellbrock and Olivier were well-placed throughout the men’s race with Verani – the Frenchman’s closest challenger for the overall crown – often sitting outside the top 10.
The Italian picked up the pace in the latter stages but it was world junior champion Sacha Velly of France who really turned on the burners, surging into second.
Wellbrock held off Velly’s challenge to claim his first World Cup win since May 2023 in 1:50:17.70 with the young Frenchman second home in 1:50:21.80.
Florian Wellbrock: Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Olivier appeared to be tiring but was able to hold off the advances of Verani and Guidi as he claimed the overall title in third in 1:50:25.60.
Guidi was fourth with Verani fifth.
Wellbrock, the Tokyo Olympic champion, said: “I love to compete at the front of the pack and use my speed from the pool and with the flat water, although it was a bit choppy at the end, it worked so good and I think it’s the perfect tactic for today.
“It’s my first time here in NEOM in Saudi Arabia, I think we have so good conditions here today, beautiful venue and the race was painful but fun.
Wellbrock will return to the pool programme next month for the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) in Budapest, Hungary.
“It was my first competition of the season,” continued Wellbrock. “It was so important to race here especially after my disappointing Olympics and for sure I’m really excited to race in short course in December.”