The main story lines at the 2026 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships 10 km races were the dominance of Florian Wellbrock (28, Germany, World Aquatics bio here) on the men’s side and Moesha “Mo” Johnson (28, Australia, World Aquatics bio here, @swimmer_moesha) on the women’s side. They both dominated the races, by leading the pack and dictating the pace of the entire race, including pulling out way ahead on the sixth and final lap in Marine Stadium.
The secondary story lines were the other swimmers on the podium: second place Paulo Strehlke Delgado (20, Mexico World Aquatics bio here) who won Mexico’s first Pan Pacific open water swimming medal and Airi Ebina (24, Japan, World Aquatics bio here) and Ichika Kajimoto (22, Japan, World Aquatics bio here) who finished #2 and #3 respectively.
Another heartwarming story was the support of the Japanese pool team who all came to Marine Stadium to support their open water swimming teammates. Coaches, trainers, and the entire pool swimming team wearing the red Japanese team gear showed up in a big bus to cheer on Ebina and Kajimoto. Some of the pool swimmers had never seen an open water race before – and their enthusiasm and respect for their open water teammates were clearly evident. Seeing a line of red team shirts along the shoreline along the final straightaway must have provided at least a little emotional boost to Ebina and Kajimoto who pulled away from their American rivals over the final straightaway.
It was great to see the 10 km captured on film by TV Asahi, a major Japanese television broadcaster. The Japanese camera crew was able to document a great kickoff to the Pan Pacific Championships for the Japanese team.
When asked why the Japanese showed up at the beach, a Japanese coach explained, “Teamwork. It is Japanese teamwork.”
The support of the Japanese pool swimmers reminds me of the pool swimmers who support Maarten van der Weijden who won the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and many other pool swimmers who cheered for their open water friends over the last few decades at the World Championships and Olympics.
2026 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – 10 km Women’s Results
[official times and full results not yet released by USA Swimming; information below reported by SwimSwam]
- Moesha Johnson, Australia
- Airi Ebina, Japan
- Ichika Kajimoto, Japan
- Becca Mann, USA
- Jacqueline Davison-McGovern, Australia
- Mariah Denigan, USA
- Ashley Twichell, USA
- Katie Grimes, USA
- Brinkleigh Hansen, USA
- Callan Lötter, South Africa
Other swimmers who participated include:
- Chelsea Douyere, Australia
- Tiana Kritzinger, Australia
- Viviane Jungblut, Brazil
- Cibelle Jungblut, Brazil
- Emma Finlin, Canada
- Jeannette Spiwoks, Germany
- Stephanie Iannaccone, Guatemala
- Paulina Susej Alanis Hernandez, Mexico
- Dalia Berenice Moreno Velasco, Mexico
- Yuritzi Salgado Gonzalez, Mexico
- Carla Antonopoulos, South Africa
- Kiara Banks, South Africa
- Sasha-Lee Hemmens, South Africa
© 2026 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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