2025 in review: men’s open water swimming
European men reaffirmed their supremacy in open water swimming throughout 2025, delivering standout performances across the World and European Championships as well as the major season-long cup series’. Germany, Hungary, Italy and France led the charge, sharing podiums and titles across nearly every race. Florian Wellbrock’s golden sweep at the World Championships, Kristóf Rasovszky’s triple European gold, and Logan Fontaine and Fabio Dalu’s consistency on the cup circuits marked another year of continental dominance heading into the next Olympic cycle.
At the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore over the summer, European men took all but one of the nine medals on offer across the three individual events, underlining the continent’s prowess. Germany’s Wellbrock was the standout performer, winning all three individual distance races and anchoring Germany’s victorious mixed relay. He claimed the 10km in 1:59:55.5 and followed two days later with gold in the 5km in 57:26.4. On both occasions Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri took silver, with France’s Marc-Antoine Olivier collecting bronze in the shorter race. Wellbrock also added the inaugural 3km knockout sprint, completing a remarkable triple at the Championships, with Hungary’s David Betlehem finishing second and Olivier third. Germany then secured gold in the new mixed 4×1500m relay, edging Italy and Hungary by only fractions of a second.
The European Aquatics Open Water Swimming Championships in Stari Grad saw Hungary and Italy emerge as the strongest national squads at a venue which hosted the first edition of the competition in 1989. Rasovszky won the men’s 10km in 1:47:23.68, ahead of France’s Fontaine and Olivier, before adding the first European title in the 3km knockout sprint by beating Fontaine and Betlehem. Italy’s victory came through Gregorio Paltrinieri, who claimed the 5km title in 52:05.79, with Betlehem and Rasovszky completing the podium in the race around the island’s harbour. Fontaine earned two silvers for France in total, while Hungary added a further gold in the mixed 4×1500m relay, finishing ahead of Italy and France. Hungary also took the overall team trophy for their efforts.
Away from the major Championships, season-long consistency was rewarded in the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup, where France’s Logan Fontaine claimed the men’s overall title. He collected podium finishes across a number of stages and secured the trophy with a silver in the final 10km. In the European Aquatics Open Water Swimming Cup, Italy’s Fabio Dalu claimed the overall crows. Dalu competed in all five legs and edged teammate Andrea Filadelli thanks to a full-participation bonus after both finished level on points.
A number of the continent’s top athletes rounded off the year with impressive performances at the Oceanman Elite World Final in Dubai, with Italy’s Domenico Acerenza taking first; joined by his compatriot Dario Verani and Fontaine on the podium, who took second and third respectively.
European open water swimmers dominated 2025 on every level of competition. With 2026 seeing the athletes return to Paris for the European Aquatics Championships 2026, the continent’s male open water swimmers will once again look to defend their status as the best athletes on the planet.
Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics
The post 2025 in review: men’s open water swimming first appeared on European Aquatics®.