Florian Wellbrock of Germany said, “After the last race [at the European Aquatics Championships], we went straight to the airport and flew to California.”
Wellbrock, a 17-time World Championship medalist and 2-time Olympic medalist (gold in the 2020 Tokyo 10 km race), won the 5 km and 10 km, finished 7th in the 3 km Knockout Sprints, and then anchored Germany to a gold medal in the 4 x 1500m mixed relay last week and now is in California for the 2026 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships 10 km race.
His next race is today starting at 10:00 am in Long Beach, California, halfway around the world 48 hours after swimming against his European rival. Nicholas Sloman of Australia, Paulo Strehlke Delgado of Mexico, and Dylan Gravley and Ivan Puskovitch of the USA are expected to push their German rival around the 6-loop 10 km course in Marine Stadium where the water is warm (24°C) and very flat and tranquil.
Watch the livestream on the above USA Swimming YouTube link at 10:00 am. The women’s race starts at 12:30 pm here.
2026 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – 10 km Men’s Start List & Race Numbers
1. Euan Liney, Australia
2. Nicholas Sloman, Australia
5. Matheus Mellechi, Brazil
6. Victor Moreno, Brazil
7. Colton Chaires, Canada
8. Sebastian Paulins, Canada
9. Florian Wellbrock, Germany
10. Pasquale Angelo Giordano, Italy
11. Riku Ezawa, Japan
12. Taishin Minamide, Japan
13. Kaito Tabuchi, Japan
14. Kaito Tsujimori, Japan
15. Diego Obele Cisneros, Mexico
16. Paulo Strehlke Delgado, Mexico
17. Roberto Valdes Ochoa, Mexico
18. Connor Albertyn, South Africa
19. Byron Kimber, South Africa
20. Henre Louw, South Africa
21. Sven van der Linde, South Africa
22. Joshua Brown, USA
23. Dylan Gravley, USA
24. Ivan Puskovitch, USA
25. Joey Tepper, USA
26. Dario Verani, Italy
27. Percy Escobar Coppa, Bolivia
© 2026 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“
World Open Water Swimming Federation, a human-powered project
New Open Water Swimming Educational and Motivational Course – register here