Ana Marcela Cunha and Florian Wellbrock Earn Swimming World Open-Water Swimmer of the Year Honors

Swimming World Open Water Swimmers of the Year Florian Wellbrock and Ana Marcela Cunha

Ana Marcela Cunha and Florian Wellbrock Earn Swimming World Open-Water Swimmer of the Year Honors

As the 2021 campaign unfolded, there was a distinct different between the athletes who ruled the open-water circuit. On the female side, Brazil’s Ana Marcela Cunha is fully focused on what she can do without lane lines. On the men’s side, Germany’s Florian Wellbrock opts to split his concentration between the pool and open water. Despite their different approaches, Cunha and Wellbrock ended up in the same place for the Year, named Swimming World’s Open-Water Swimmers of the Year. Here is a look at what they achieved.

Ana Marcela Cunha

Ana Marcela Cunha continues to be the world’s most dominant woman in open water, capturing Swimming World’s Female Open Water Swimmer of the Year title in 2019 and 2021. (Because of the COVID pandemic, the award was not presented in 2020). In the biggest race of the past five years, the Brazilian star was at her best at this past summer’s Tokyo Olympic Games, surging to the 10K open water gold medal.

Twenty-five women qualified for the race, which began at Odaiba Marine Park. She didn’t lead from the outset. In fact, she didn’t even lead for most of the course. It was Ashley Twichell who set the pace and led for most of the race, but Cunha swam right with the American. Germany’s Leonie Beck went into the top group on Lap Six of the seven-lap course, but once Cunha got back in front early in the final lap, she never surrendered the lead.

But it wasn’t as simple as it might sound.

As Cunha tried to break away late in the race, two swimmers managed to stay close: the Netherlands’ Sharon van Rouwendaal and Australia’s Kareena Lee. Van Rouwendaal, the defending gold medalist from the 2016 Olympics in Rio, had a similar race strategy as Cunha and used a late surge to earn the silver medal in Tokyo.

After nearly two hours of swimming, Cunha was able to maintain her body-length lead over van Rouwendaal, getting to the touchpad less than a second ahead of her Dutch rival, 1:59:30.8 to 1:59:31.7 – and only 1.7 seconds ahead of Lee at 1:59:32.5. The gold was Cunha’s first Olympic medal and the second medal for Brazil in open water, as Poliana Okimoto took bronze at Rio.

“This is my third Olympic Games,” Cunha said after the race. “In 2008, I had no chance, in 2012 I didn’t qualify, and Rio 2016 was not the result we expected. We arrived here in Tokyo wanting – as much as you can – this medal, and around 10 days (before the race), I said to my coach that for my opponents to win this race, it will be very difficult because I want it so hard, so much…and I’m really well-prepared.”

Florian Wellbrock

In 2019, Florian Wellbrock was the world’s premier distance swimmer both in the pool and in open water. The German was actually competing in open water for the first time at the World Championships, and he emerged with a gold medal in the 10K race, edging out France’s Marc-Antoine Olivier by just 2-tenths to capture the world title. A week-and-a-half later, Wellbrock out-dueled rivals Mykhailo Romanchuk and Gregorio Paltrinieri to win the world title in the 1500 freestyle. He set himself up to head to the Tokyo Olympics as a favorite in both events after finishing just 32nd in the 1500 at his first Games in Rio.

But Wellbrock’s Olympics did not get off to the best start in his first event, the 800 freestyle. It was no surprise to see Wellbrock battling Romanchuk and Paltrinieri for the majority of the race, and Wellbrock took over the lead with 50 meters to go. But on the last length, American Bobby Finke stormed from a second-and-a-half back to steal away the gold medal. At the same time, both Paltrinieri and Romanchuk passed Wellbrock, and he was denied a chance to win his first Olympic medal.

Three days later, Wellbrock swam in the 1500 free Olympic final, and he led for most of the race. With only 50 meters to go, the margin was 7-tenths over Romanchuk and Finke. Finke went crazy once again and sprinted ahead of the field to win gold – and Romanchuk, too, turned on the afterburners. Wellbrock hung on to win bronze, but it was a rough end to his week in the pool.

But Wellbrock still had to race in the open water 10K, and this time, he finished. Wellbrock went out hard and held the lead for most of the race, only briefly surrendering the lead to France’s Olivier. A pack of about six swimmers were close heading into the last of seven laps of the course, but Wellbrock annihilated the field at that point and pulled away to win gold by an incredible 25 seconds.

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