On the third open water race at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships on Singapore’s Sentosa Island, the athletes were exhausted from the heat, the conditions, and the revised schedule with less rest.

It was brutal.

But everyone was in the same boat. Moesha Johnson (27, Australia, MSF bio here, World Aquatics bio here, @swimmer_moe) had won two gold medals in the 10 km and 5 km races, just ahead of dual silver medalist Ginevra Taddeucci (28, Italy, MSF bio here, World Aquatics bio here, @ginevrataddeucci) also in the 10 km and 5 km races.

But today in the new 3 km Knockout Sprints, it was a historic day for Japan and Ichika Kajimoto (21, Japan, World Aquatics bio here, @chika_0307). Kajimoto had won a bronze medal yesterday in the 5 km and finished eighth in the 10 km, just behind Ana Marcela Cunha of Brazil, but ahead of established swimmers like Chelsea Gubecka of Australia and Barbara Pozobon of Italy.

Kajimoto has world-class speed: 4:07.58 in the 400m, 8:26.02 in the 800m, and 16:10.37 in the 1500m freestyles – all of which she will swim later in the pool events in Singapore. But she has – very importantly for the 3 km Knockout Sprints – saavy tactical sense.

She used that skill in winning the 3 km today, the first World Championship victory for a Japanese open water swimmer. Even if her swim cap fell off about 250 meters in the final 500 meters. That drag did not seem to slow her down a bit.

The podium finishers switched places on each round. In Heat 1, Taddeucci won in 18:09.70 over Kajimoto’s 18:09.90 and Johnson in 18:11.70. Heat 1 started at 5:01 pm. Johnson won the semifinals in 12:09.60 over Kajimoto in 12:09.70 and Taddeucci in 12:10.00. The semifinals started at 5:34 pm. But the final podium finishes all came down to the final 500 meter sprint that started at 5:54 pm. The entire event – including logistics – was over within an hour.

Yesterday, Kajimoto’s bronze medal in the 5 km was Japan’s first podium finish in open water swimming at the World Aquatics Championships. “Most [top] open water swimmers come from Central Europe and America, but we have a chance in Asia. My hope is that we have more fantastic races and swimmers from Asia.”

Today, she made history and Japan proud.

“I’m feeling both happiness and disbelief,” said the 21-year-old Japanese national – and now international – champion. “Now more people [in Japan] are aware of open water swimming. This is very important to both me and the Japanese swimming federation.”

But it was also poetic justice that Taddeucci and Johnson both joined Kajimoto on the podium in today’s event.

Johnson profoundly understands about the sport and its dynamic nature, “That last lap, I literally had water in my goggles, I had elbows in my ribs. We’re all just fighting for it, everyone wanted it. But that’s this sport; I hope people really enjoyed watching that, because that’s what this event is about. It’s about the craziness and the intensity of what we actually do – condensing a 10 km and a 5 km into an absolute all-out sprint.”

Bettina Fabian (20, Hungary, MSF bio here, World Aquatics bio here) echoed her fellow bronze medalist from Australia, “The last 500 meters was like the fastest I’ve ever swam in my entire life. The last 150 meters were horrific. Everyone was swimming next to each other trying to control our strokes, someone was trying to push me behind them and in the last five meters I think the strongest-minded person was able to touch the panel first.”

Women’s 500m Final Round Knockout Sprint Results

1. Ichika Kajimoto, 21, Japan 6:19.90
2. Ginevra Taddeucci, 28, Italy 6:21.90
3. Moesha Johnson, 27 Australia and Bettina Fabian, 20, Hungary, tied at 6:23.10
4. —
5. Isabel Gose, 23, Germany 6:23.30
6. Lea Boy, 25, Germany 6:23.30
7. Lisa Pou, 26, Monaco 6:25.10
8. Margarita Ershova, Neutral Country B 6:26.90
9. Angela Martinez Guillen, 21, Spain 6:28.10
10. Kseniia Misharina, 16, Neutral Country B 6:30.30

For those who have never seen a Knockout Sprint event before, World Aquatics produced this explanatory video here.

Emma Finlin of Canada finished 26th in the 10 km race and competed all week. She summed up her races, “I think I got myself in a pretty good pack, which I usually struggle with. I was a lot more patient this race whereas I usually panic the first lap (of a 5 km) because it’s a shorter race. I was a lot more calm and I think it helped a lot. It was kind of tough to get over, but I didn’t rush it which was good. I didn’t panic and I worked my way up through the first lap.”

3 km Knockout Sprints Regulations

• For the First Round, the entry list is published in advance of the Team Leaders Meeting.
• The number of heats to be swum in the First Round and the Second Round is determined after all the entries have been received and announced at the Team Leaders Meeting.
• For the Second Round, there is a maximum of 2 heats.
• In the First Round, each swimmer swim 1.5 km. The swimmers who advance to the Second Round swim 1 km. The swimmers who advance to Final Round swim 500 meters.
• The top 10 finishers from each heat in the First Round advance to the Second Round – or 2 heats based on the decisions made at the Team Leaders Meeting.
• If there is 1 heat in the Second Round, the top 10 swimmers from the Second Round advance to the Final Round.
• If there are 2 heats in the Second Round, the top 10 finishers from each heat will advance to the Final Round.
• If a swimmer receives a 1st infringement during the First Rounds or the Second Round, then this penalty remains in place as the swimmer advances forward in any Rounds.
• If the swimmer is disqualified or withdraws from the Second Round or the Final Round, the position that the swimmer would have finished is awarded to the next competitor and all the lower placing swimmers are advanced one place in the Second Round semifinal or the Final Round.
• The podium finishers are the top 3 swimmers in the Final Round.

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