Kenza Brouwer is the newly appointed Sport Manager for the 10 km open water swimming event at the LA28 Olympic & Paralympic Games.

The women’s race will start at 1:30 pm PST on July 17th and the men’s event will start at 1:30 pm PST on July 18th 2028 along Belmont Shore in Long Beach, California. Although LA28 shows open water swimmers wearing wetsuits on its website (see here), it is unlikely that the water temperature will be below 20°C in mid-July 2028, especially in the early afternoons in Southern California.

Brouwer previously served as the highly touted assistant venue manager and course officer for open water swimming in Sentosa during the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.

2025 World Aquatics Championships

Moesha Johnson (27, Australia, MSF bio here, World Aquatics bio here, @swimmer_moe), Isabel Gose (23, Germany, World Aquatics bio here), and Ichika Kajimoto (21, Japan, World Aquatics bio here, @chika_0307) had a very busy two weeks at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships, racing in both Singapore’s Sentosa Island – where the open water races were held – and the Singapore Sports Hub where the pool events were held.

Johnson raced over 23,300 meters in 9 races. Gose raced over 9,900 meters over 10 races. Kajimoto raced over 21,900 meters over 11 races. Against world-class competition in various conditions.

Similar to their male counterparts including Florian Wellbrock (27, Germany, MSF bio here, World Aquatics bio here, @flo.swim) and Gregorio Paltrinieri (30, Italy, MSF bio here, World Aquatics bio here,  @greg_palt), the trio of women clearly demonstrated that success at the highest level in both the pool and open water swimming is within the reach of motivated and talented athletes.

Moesha Johnson, Australia – 23,300 meters racing over 9 races in both pool and open water at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships

• July 31st: 12th in 800m freestyle preliminary heats in 8:30.85
• July 29th: 6th in 1500m freestyle in 16:02.45
• July 27th: Qualified 6th in the 1500m freestyle preliminary heats in 16:05.13
• July 20th: 5th in 4x1500m open water mixed relay in 1:09:59
• July 19th: 3rd in 3 km Knockout Sprint 500m final in 6:23.10, qualified 1st in 1000m semifinal at 5:30 pm in 12:09.60, qualified 4th in 1500m heats at 5:00 pm in 18:11.70
• July 18th: Gold medal in 5 km open water in 1:02.01
• July 16th: Gold medal in 10 km open water in 2:07.51

Isabel Gose, Germany- 9,900 meters racing over 10 races in both pool and open water at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships

• August 2nd: 6th in 800m freestyle final in 8:18:32
• July 31st: Qualified 4th in 800m freestyle preliminary heats in 8:20.21
• July 28th: 9th in 1500m freestyle in 16:08.41
• July 27th: 5th in 400m freestyle in 4:02.90
• July 27th: 9th in the 1500m freestyle preliminary heats in 16:08.41
• July 26th: Qualified 7th in 400m freestyle preliminary heats in 4:05.07
• July 20th: Gold medal in 4x1500m open water mixed relay in 1:09.13
• July 19th: 5th in 3 km Knockout Sprint 500m final at 5:45 pm in 6:23.30, qualified 3rd in 1000m semifinal at 5:30 pm in 12:10.00, qualified 3rd in 1500m heats at 5:00 pm in 18:11.40

Ichika Kajimoto, Japan – 21,900 meters racing over 11 races in both pool and open water at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships

• August 2nd: 8th in 800m freestyle in 8:26.85
• July 31st: Qualified 8th in 800m freestyle semifinals in 8:27.51
• July 31st: 8th in 4x200m freestyle relay in 7:58.13
• July 30th: Qualified 8th in the 4x200m freestyle relay preliminary heats in 7:58.80
• July 27th: 10th in the 1500m freestyle preliminary heats in 16:09.65
• July 26th: 12th in 400m freestyle preliminary heats in 4:08.79
• July 19th: Gold medal in 3 km Knockout Sprint 500m final at 5:45 pm in 6:19.90, qualified 2nd in 1000m semifinal at 5:30 pm in 12:09.70, qualified 2nd in 1500m heats at 5:00 pm in 18:09.90
• July 18th: Bronze medal in 5 km open water in 1:02.28
• July 16th: 8th in 10 km open water in 2:09.27

On the men’s side in Sentosa, Florian Wellbrock was simply unbelievable: four races and four victories in clearly dominant fashion.

He was absolutely Phelpsian (or Spitzian for fans of the 20th century) in conditions that would be unfathomable in the controlled environment of a 50m pool:

• uncertain delays due to poor water quality
• 30+°C (86+°F) water temperatures with a full-body, skin-tight, all-black techsuit on with a swim cap
• unexpected wavy conditions
• a total of 6 races in 4 days
• competing against gold medalists including Gregorio Paltrinieri and Kristóf Rasovszky (28, Hungary, World Aquatics bio here) day after day

Wellbrock was just too much for the field in the 10 km on the first day and the 5 km on the second day in Sentosa Island. He completed a clean sweep of the individual event with a final 500-meter sprint in the 3 km Knockout Sprints. He was humble in victory, “It wasn’t my goal to come here for three golds, but it’s so nice to be on top of the podium three times in a row.”

In the opening heat, he finished first in 17:00.40 in the 1500m swim that started at 7:05 pm in the 30.4°C (86°F) water. In the 1000-meter semifinal at started at 7:30 pm, Wellbrock was also the fastest, finishing in 11:27.20. As the evening cooled from the midday highs, the water was still warm (30°C/86°F) while Wellbrock remained hot. Over the final 500 meters, Wellbrock remained dominant, beating long-time rivals including Olympic bronze medalist David Betlehem (21, Hungary, MSF bio here, World Aquatics bio here, @betlehemdavid), another Olympic bronze medalist Marc-Antoine Olivier (29, France, MSF bio here, World Aquatics bio here), and Olympic gold medalist Gregorio Paltrinieri (30, Italy, MSF bio here, World Aquatics bio here,  @greg_palt).

Wellbrock, with an incredible efficient stroke, just knows how to win – and prepared very well in anticipation. “The strategy was to have a good position in the 1500m and 1 km, and being in the top position in the 500m. I think the key for the whole week is doing a lot of volume for the whole year, so that you are in good preparation for this competition here. I like knockout races, it’s so nice because you can feel that every lap is faster. David [Betlehem] and me, our finish was incredible. He told me before the start, let’s go for gold and silver, and we did it. To be a good open water swimmer, you need the speed from the pool. We can use this speed for the final 500m, and that’s so nice. It’s so amazing.”

As a result, Wellbrock has won five out of five races against the fastest and best open water swimmers in the world: 10 km + 5 km + 1.5 km first round + 1.0 km semifinal + 500m final round of the 3 km Knockout Sprints.

Men’s Final Round – 3 km Knockout Sprints Results

1. Florian Wellbrock, 27, Germany 5:46.00
2. David Betlehem, 21, Hungary 5:47.70
3. Marc-Antoine Olivier, 29, France 5:51.10
4. Gregorio Paltrinieri, 30, Italy 5:58.90
5. Thomas Edward Raymond, 22, Australia 5:59.00
6. Kristóf Rasovszky, 28, Hungary 6:06.00
7. Logan Fountaine, 26, France and Ivan Puskovitch, 24, USA, both in 6:07.20
8. —
9. Martin Straka, 24, Czech Republic 6:08.60
10. Nicholas Sloman, 27, Australia 6:10.30

Olympic 10 km Open Water Swim Course

While the LA28 Olympic 10 km open water swim course has not been publicly announced, Wellbrock and a few USA Swimming coaches know the anticipated course. Tickets for the open water swimming events have not been released, but all of these details (including the course design, type of turn buoys, television coverage and camera angles, announcers, test event dates and locations, public announcements) ultimately fall on the shoulders of Brouwer to execute. She began working on the ground in Long Beach last month.

LA28 Olympic Qualifications

World Aquatics confirmed that the primary qualification path for the LA28 Olympic 10 km open water swim will be held at the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary from July 3rd to 8th 2027. The first three finishers in the 10 km event will earn a quota spot for the LA28 Olympic Games.

As of February 2028, the highest-ranked athlete in the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Ranking will earn a quota place invitation by name for the LA28 Olympic Games, although it is highly likely that thes athletes would have already qualified at the 2027 World Championships. In that case, the next highest-ranked eligible athlete in the Open Water Swimming World Ranking will obtain a quota place.

Beyond those quota places, there will be 18 athletes who will qualify at the LA28 Olympic Games Qualification Event. These 18 athletes will include up to five continental representatives, one host country athlete, and the remaining athletes based on the results.

In addition to the process described above, any athlete who has achieved an Olympic “A” Standard Qualification Time in either the 800m or 1,500m freestyle may enter the open water event.

However, the 2028 World Aquatics Olympic Games Qualification Event has yet to be announced.

Olympic 10 km Open Water Swim Anticipated Conditions

The waters off Belmont Shore should be flat and tranquil for the LA28 Olympics [see below] – unless strong afternoon winds come up. But even under strong winds, the surface water conditions may be bumpy, but not wavy. Most definitely, the calm Pacific Ocean course within the Long Beach Breakwater will be dramatically different than the fast-flowing and contra-flowing 2024 Paris Olympics 10 km open water course in the Seine.

Following in the Wake of Christiane Fanzeres

Brouwer is the second woman in the history of the Olympic Games to lead the organization of an Olympic 10 km open water swim.

At the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Copacabana Beach, former professional marathon swimmer Christiane Fanzeres served as the Marathon Swimming Technical Operations Manager. The then 52-year-old information technologist and data analyst had also completed the English Channel in 2001 in 10 hours 14 minutes, was a member of the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee.

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