Sacha Velly Clinches Maiden Solo Victory As Moesha Johnson Continues Domination at Open Water World Cup
A blistering finish steered Sacha Velly to his maiden individual gold at the Open Water World Cup while Moesha Johnson continued her domination with a 25-second victory for a third straight crown at Golfo Aranci.
Velly – 13th after the sprint lap – made his move in the finishing chute, pulling on to the shoulder of Marc-Antoine Olivier as the pair fleetingly went stroke for stroke with Andrea Filadelli a sliver behind the French pair.
Marc-Antoine Olivier: Picture courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
The 2024 world junior champion had the momentum and got his hand to the board first in 1:49:07.50 ahead of Olivier (1:49:07.80) and Filadelli (1:49:08.30).
Velly was part of the French mixed relay that won gold in October 2025 – also at Golfo Aranci – but Friday represented his first solo trip to the top of the podium.
It also saw him upgrade his silver last time out in Ibiza behind David Betlehem who came a distant 18th in Italy.
Ivan Giovannoni was locked out by one place in fourth followed by Britain’s Hector Pardoe, Logan Fontaine of France, Australian Nick Sloman, Hungarian Olympic champion Kristof Rasovszky, Marcello Guidi of Italy with Paris 2024 silver medallist Oliver Klemet rounding out the top 10.
It promises to be a real old tussle for top spot in the final rankings at the fourth and final leg in Setubal, Portugal, in June. Olivier and Filadelli can’t be separated with 1700pts followed by Velly (1660) and Betlehem (1630).
Johnson Continues Domination
Johnson emerged as the prominent force in women’s open water last year, clinching the 5/10k double and sharing 3k sprint bronze with Bettina Fabian despite oppressively hot conditions at the Singapore worlds.
The Australian won the 10k at the opening leg in Somabay by 48 seconds before her second straight victory in Ibiza last week.
First on the sprint lap, Johnson came home in 1:54:12.10, for a thumping win with Angela Martinez Guillen next to touch the board in 1:54:37.20 to clinch her second straight silver. Caroline Jouisse of France was third, a further 26.40secs behind in 1:54:38.60.
Lea Boy of Germany was fourth followed by Monaco’s Lisa Pou, Brinkleigh Hansen of the USA, Japan’s Ichika Kajimoto, Fabian of Hungary, Mariah Denigan of the USA and Spain’s Maria de Valdes.
Johnson sits atop the rankings with 2400pts and a 650-point lead over Guillen (1750) with just one stop remaining. Boy (1550) and Pou (1500) are also in the scrap for a top-three finish.
