Ignasi Vendrell Gervás (blue shirt), Ivan Torres (red vest), and Daniel Delgadillo (red shirt) ran an outstanding World Cup event in Cancún, Mexico

Cancún was the location of the most recent World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup this weekend.

The elite 10 km races and 3 km Knockout Sprints were held in an offshore rectangular course that was covered extensively in Mexico and was broadcast by World Aquatics with British Olympian Alice Dearing and Australia’s Will Rollo bringing livecast commentary.

But a successful event was not an automatic given. The local Mexican organizers have not conducted a World Aquatics (FINA) open water swimming competition since 2015 in nearby Isla Cozumel, but that 11-year gap reminded the global open water swimming community how well the Mexican hosts can conduct a red-carpet event for 64 male and 54 female athletes from 27 nations who came to the resort town on the Yucatán Peninsula: Germany, Italy, Hungary, Brazil, Argentina, France, Mexico, Switzerland, Czech Republic, USA, Portugal, Japan, Poland, Australia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Israel, Turkey, Slovakia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Bolivia, Monaco, Spain, Finland, and South Africa were represented.

While Florian Wellbrock of Germany and Moesha Johnson of Australia each won both races, Japan picked up two silvers by Ichika Kajimoto and Aira Ebina

Athletes were accommodated in three beautiful resort hotels that were literally steps away from the competition venue including the Meliá Casa Maya Cancún with its 50-meter hotel pool that was a great warm-up and warm-down pool for the swimmers.

Location and one of the 3 pools the Meliá Casa Maya Cancún, the host hotel

View of the start and finish of the venue from the Meliá Casa Maya Cancún, the host hotel

Sponsorship signage was everywhere – not only in the mixed zone, but also on the finish chute and the feeding pontoons (where there was lots of action)

Most beautifully, a rainbow greeted the swimmers before the start of the competition

There were all kinds of amenities for the athletes: a post-race ice bath tent and a lounge with food and drinks

Athletes were announced to pulsating music and made a long walk from the ready room to the start

Hand-held cameras onshore and on the feeding station and at least 2 drones were flying and filming the races from various perspectives

John Mason in English and Ady Jiménez in Spanish kept the crowd informed throughout with weekend with great energy and frequent race updates

Under the hot tropical sun, volunteers held umbrellas for the athletes between the heats, semifinals, and finals during the 3 km Knockout Sprints (see video below)

There was ample room in the athlete’s tent and pre-race technical meetings – and each team had their own designated space

Sylvie Potvin of Canada led a large team of domestic and international officials that ran a smooth operation

• Sylvie Potvin, Canada, World Aquatics Technical Delegate
• Szabolcs Fodor, Hungary, World Aquatics Safety Delegate
• Dr. Kristin Wingfield, Canada, World Aquatics Medical Delegate
• Tom Lombardo, USA, World Aquatics Evaluator
• Ivan Torres, Mexico, Organizing Committee Competition Manager
• Fartith Gonzalez, Mexico, Course Officer
• Jesús Juárez, Mexico, Local Safety Officer
• Dr. Armando Ángel López, Mexico, Local Medical Officer
• Ross Gillespie, New Zealand, Chief Referee
• Esther Kaas, Aruba, Assistant Chief Referee
• Lini Feisol, Malaysia, Referee
• Harold Gusddorf, Australia, Assistant Referee
• Kimbungo Kiambata, Angola, Referee
• Jessica Santamand Heredia, Mexico, Assistant Referee
• Gladys Olivisa Mejia, El Salvador, Referee
• Victor Manuel Alarcón Figueroa, Mexico, Assistant Referee
• Mike Murphy, USA, Starter
• Jose Luis Borrego Gonzalez, Mexico, Chief Timekeeper
• Yichun Ernie Hsu, Chinese Taipei, Chief Finish Judge
• José Roberto Rivera Herrera, Mexico, Finish Judge
• Laura Leticia Gamboa Durán, Mexico, Finish Judge
• Rita Lazar, Hungary, Clerk of Course
• Luis Mario Villareal, Mexico, Clerk of Course
• Jorge Olaf Heredia Dominguez, Mexico, Assistant Clerk of Course
• Norma Alicia Orona Reyes, Mexico, Assistant Clerk of Course
• Gonzalo Rodríguez Molina, Mexico, Turn Judge
• José Alfredo Borrego González, Mexico, Turn Judge
• Omar Alejandro Balcazar Román, Mexico, Turn Judge
• Kim Jelmoni, Switzerland, Recorder
• Mike Murphy, USA, Video Review Judge
• Lini Felsol, Malaysia, Check Temperature
• Lydia Kehoe, Ireland, World Aquatics Media Coordinator
• Ignasi Vendrell Gervás, Spain, World Aquatics Sport Event Manager
• Daniel Delgadillo, Mexico, Mexican Swimming Federation representative
• Alice Dearing, Great Britain, World Aquatics live color commentator
• Will Rollo, Australia, World Aquatics live broadcast announcer

The joy and appreciation of the athletes were evident and genuine

@ 2026 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“

World Open Water Swimming Federation, an exclusively human-powered project