Florian Wellbrock and Ginevra Taddeucci followed up their 10km victories with further gold in the 5km events on day two of open water competition at the European Aquatics Championships Paris 2026, though both had to work hard for it, with Wellbrock seeing off a resurgent David Betlehem, while Taddeucci had to come from behind after a fast-starting Barbara Pozzobon set the early pace.

Men’s 5km

On what was a cooler morning than the previous, 34 athletes eventually made it to the pontoon for the men’s 5km race, which consisted of four 1.25km laps.

Wellbrock started the shorter distance in a similar vein to the day before, sitting second early on before briefly dropping to third, 4.2 seconds down. But by the second checkpoint the German was untouchable, hitting the front and leading outright the rest of the way, and he never really relinquished his hold of the race, despite charges at certain points from a number of athletes.

Behind him, the race for the minor medals swung wildly in the opening third. Kristof Rasovszky burst into the lead early on, the Hungarian’s only spell at the front all race, while Gregorio Paltrinieri produced the move of the morning, rocketing from 11th at the first checkpoint up to second by the next, thanks to some intricate moves through the bunched up pack as they came off the pontoon.

David Betlehem’s race followed a similar zig-zag pattern to his silver-medal swim in the 10km one day earlier, with him dropping to seventh early on before recovering into the podium places, only to slip back to sixth, 10 seconds down. From there he found his rhythm, working back into the podium places and anchoring well before moving into second with just over a kilometre to go, a position he would not concede.

Sacha Velly’s fightback was the story of the second half. Having been nearly 21 seconds behind the leaders early on, the Frenchman produced a remarkable recovery, leaping into the top ten and continuing to close throughout the middle of the race, briefly rising as high as second. He couldn’t quite sustain it over the closing stages, settling for fourth at the finish, 11.2 seconds down, but it was nonetheless a standout swim through the pack.

Italy’s Paltrinieri, after his first-kilometre escapade, settled into the podium picture by halfway and held on to take bronze, 4.5 seconds off Wellbrock’s winning time.

At the front, Wellbrock’s advantage held firm to the finish. He touched in 55:40.2 to add the 5km title to his 10km crown, with Betlehem taking a second successive silver medal behind him in 55:42.6, 2.3 seconds back, and Paltrinieri completing the podium in 55:44.7.

The result is the German’s first ever 5km European title – complementing the three he has already secured at World Championship level.

“Yeah, it’s unbelievable,” Wellbrock said when speaking to European Aquatics following his victory. “So I had a good recovery obviously from yesterday, from the 10K, and I’m a bit speechless to be honest.

“It’s so nice to share the podium and the stage with David and Greg, we have a really good relationship. We’re sharing the stage for a really long time, and to have a close battle at the end of the race, it’s always so much fun.”

Betlehem was reflective of his achievements.

“I felt I was somewhat weaker after the 10km, though I guess it was bit of the same for Flo (Wellbrock). It was another outstanding race, I really tried everything to take over Flo, tried from the right, from the left, above, below but didn’t succeed, he was simply too good once more.

Women’s 5km

The women’s race began a few hours later, with both the temperature and atmosphere heating up as the 26 athletes lined up.

It was Barbara Pozzobon of Italy who set the early tone, leading outright from the very first buoy through to halfway, and the only woman in the field to hold the lead throughout the opening stages. Her compatriot Taddeucci had to work her way into contention, sitting second early on before slipping as low as fourth around halfway, multiple body lengths off the pace and further back than at any other point in the race.

Hungary’s Viktoria Mihalyvari-Farkas, fresh off her runner-up finish in the 10km, spent the early stages working through the field herself, moving up into second before briefly wrestling the outright lead away from Pozzobon approaching halfway – her only spell at the front of the race.

The decisive moment came with just over a kilometre to go. Taddeucci, who had steadily clawed her way back into the podium places by that point, surged past both her rivals to take the lead for the first time.

She never looked back, leading outright the rest of the way and holding on to the finish to complete the distance-double, touching in 1:02:31.2.

Behind her, Mihalyvari-Farkas, who had worked her way into second by the finish, took silver in 1:02:33.4, 2.1 seconds adrift. Pozzobon’s brave effort ultimately came up just short; having led for the majority of the first half, she was passed in the closing stages and had to settle for bronze in 1:02:35.1, just 3.9 seconds off gold at the end of a race that stayed remarkably tight from start to finish.

The gold medal is Taddeucci’s second 5km title in as many years, while Mihalyvari-Farkas also doubled up her silver in the event from 2025. Pozzobon took her first medal at a European Championships since 2024, and her first ever medal over the 5km distance.

“I’m very happy. Today was a very hard race, but I’m happy and the location is beautiful,” said Taddeucci.

“I’m very happy for Barbara. She’s my friend, and the 1st and the 3rd position is fantastic.

“My swim wasn’t great today, but I am just looking forward to the final races.”

Mihalyvari-Farkas seemed very content with yet another medal.

“I’m really happy and I’m really glad to race in Paris and I’m really glad to win 2 silver medals,” she said.

“It was quite windy so it was difficult, but I am glad to come through it and keep building towards LA28.”

Pozzobon has come through a difficult period in the water, in her own words, and she was delighted with the outcome.

“I’m so happy. I have found the feeling that has been lost for a long time, so this makes me so happy.

“Ginevra is a really strong woman now. I think she’s the best and I’m happy for her and I’m happy for me.”

A one day break will now take place for the open water swimmers before the 3km knockouts on Friday and the mixed relay on Saturday.

Click here for the event page, which includes all start lists and results.

Click here to watch all of the action on Eurovision Sport.

Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics