Moesha Johnson (@swimmer_moe) said after her silver medal performance in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in the Seine, “Now that the Olympics has come to an end, I can realize what I achieved. The enormity of the Games is so hard to process, especially whilst remaining focused. An individual Olympic medal on an Olympic debut. Plus a 6th place Olympic final in the pool.”

What can she possibly achieve?

A gold in LA28.

Last year since her finished sixth in the 1500m freestyle in the pool and won a silver medal in the marathon swim at the Paris Olympics, Johnson finished 8th in the Open Water Swimming World Cup in Portugal, won the 10 km Open Water Swimming World Cup in Hong Kong, was a member of the winning 4x1500m mixed relay in Hong Kong, finished 5th in the 400m freestyle, finished 8th in the 200m freestyle, and finished 2nd in the 800m freestyle at the Singapore [pool] World Cup, and finished the year winning the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup finale in Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea by an almost unheard of 31 seconds.

And she has not slowed down.

She started off 2025 with a resounding victory in the Australian 10 km Open Water Championships at Busselton Jetty in Western Australia, winning AUS$8000. A total prize purse of AUS$50,000 was offered, including AUS$6000 for second and AUS$1500 for third with cash prizes down to 8th place. She beat fellow Australian Olympian Chelsea Gubecka and Olympic bronze medalist Ginevra Taddeucci of Italy by over 32 seconds – a huge gap among elite marathon swimmers.

Given her pool speed, her growing open water swimming experience, and the conditions of the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics (calm, flat-water, rectangular course without tides, currents, or waves), her speed and stamina are ideal for a podium finish.

But her first short-term goal is winning at the 2025 World Championships in Singapore.

It won’t be easy and there is a lot of hard work ahead of her. Her competition will include the fastest and most accomplished freestylers in the world (including triple Olympic medalist Sharon van Rouwendaal and American rival Katie Grimes who is also expected double up in both the pool and open water).

Because of the near pool-like conditions in Los Angeles, the necessary speed and stamina to earn a podium position will be in the hands of converted fast pool swimmers like Johnson, van Rouwendaal, and Grimes. The 10K will not be a technical challenging course like the Seine was in Paris, but much more like Tokyo Bay was where the fast swimmers started the race fast and keep the potential lead pack small. All these factors play right into the strategy of Johnson, van Rouwendaal, and Grimes.

Let’s see what the next quadrennial brings.

Australian 10K Open Water Championships – Women’s Results

1. Moesha Johnson (28, Australia) 1:57:34.40
2. Chelsea Gubecka (27, Australia) 1:58:07.20
3. Ginevra Taddeucci (28, Italy) 1:58:10.20
4. Jac Davison-McGovern (21, Australia) 1:59:11.30
5. Tayla Martin (26, Australia) 1:59:11.40
6. Madeleine Gough (26, Australia) 2:00:22.50
7. Bianca Crisp (26, Australia) 2:00:31.40
8. Misa Okuzono (19, Japan) 2:00:59.90
9. Leah Crisp (24, Great Britain) 2:02:57.50
10. Kiyomi Tani (19, Japan) 2:03:38.40
11. Sienna Deurloo (20, Australia) 2:05:40.40
12. Emily Broun (20, Australia) 2:05:42.60
13. Rosie Wilson (21, Australia) 2:06:11.50
14. Abbey Smale (22, New Zealand) 2:09:03.40
15. Katelyne Irwin (30, Australia) 2:09:37.90
16. Ruby Heath (26, New Zealand) 2:09:43.20
17. Chantal Liew (27, Singapore) 2:12:34.20
18. Claudia Broun (20, Australia) 2:12:37.30
19. Rebekah Weller (31, Australia) 2:12:41.90
20. Josie Page (26, Australia) 2:13:13.20
21. Suzanne Ryan (28, Australia) 2:13:59.50
22. Sofie Frichot (35, Australia) 2:23:22.30

© 2025 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

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