The mixed 4 × 1500 metre relay event at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships was held on 20 July 2025.
The first leg was led by the teams who sent in a male swimmer first, while top teams Germany, Italy, Hungary, France and Australia all had a female swimmer. Though the middle two legs of the race, these teams caught up, and going into the fourth and final leg, Florian Wellbrock took over for Germany in first, nine seconds ahead of Gregorio Paltrinieri who took over for Italy in second. Paltrinieri quickly closed the nine-second gap on Wellbrock. Over the final straight, Wellbrock sped up and blocked Paltrinieri to win gold for Germany with a time of 1:09:13.3. Paltrinieri finished second for Italy with 1:09:15.4, and then Hungary finished third with 1:09:16.7.
Germany's victory won Wellbrock his fourth gold medal of the Championships, meaning he had won every gold available in the open water events. It was the first time this had ever been achieved.
Background Germany's team composed of Florian Wellbrock, the winner of the men's 5 km and 10 km earlier in the week, Isabel Gose, Oliver Klemet, and Celine Rieder. The Australian team included Moesha Johnson, who won the women's 5 km and 10 km, and the Italian team contained both Gregorio Paltrinieri, the silver medallist in the men's 5 km and 10 km, and Ginevra Taddeucci, the silver medallist in the women's 5 km and 10 km. It was the final open water swimming event at this iteration of the championships.
Qualification Each federation could enter one team consisting of two athletes of each gender.
Race The race took place around a course off the coast of Palawan Beach, Sentosa. It was held on 20 July at 08:00 SGT.
Germany, Italy, Hungary, France and Australia all allocated female swimmers to the first leg of the relay, which meant those top teams were nearer the back of the race. Thailand's Ratthawit Thammananthachote led from the start of the race and finished the leg in first, while Germany's Celine Rieder was the first woman to reach the changeover.
Over the second leg, Italy and Hungary both employed a second female swimmer, while Germany and France sent in Oliver Klemet and Marc-Antoine Olivier, respectively. Klemet and Olivier took the lead, and going into the second changeover, France was first, Germany was second, and Australia came third.
Going into the third leg, Inès Delacroix took over for France, Isabel Gose took over for Germany, and Moesha Johnson took over for Australia around 37 seconds behind. Over the third leg, Gose took the lead for Germany, and she had built a nine-second lead over Delacroix by the changeover. France retained second place, and Italy came in third, about one second behind.
Florian Wellbrock took over for Germany while Gregorio Paltrinieri took over for Italy. Paltrinieri quickly closed the nine-second gap on Wellbrock, while France's Logan Fontaine, Hungary's Dávid Betlehem, and Australia's Kyle Lee followed. Over the final straight, Wellbrock sped up and blocked Paltrinieri to win gold for Germany with a time of 1:09:13.3. Paltrinieri finished second for Italy with 1:09:15.4, and then Betlehem closed for Hungary with 1:09:16.7. France finished fourth with 1:09:24.7. After the race, Wellbrock needed medical attention due to the heat of the water.
Germany's victory earned Wellbrock his fourth gold medal of the Championships, meaning he had won every gold available in the open water events (the 10 km, 5 km, 3 km knockout sprint, and this relay). It was the first time this had ever been achieved at the World Aquatics Championships. After the race, Wellbrock said "I'm still speechless. I have no idea how I did it." On the women's side, Ginevra Taddeucci won silver in the same four events.
The win also gave Wellbrock his fourteenth world championship medal and tenth gold medal, and Paltrinieri's silver was his nineteenth world championship medal.
+ Results Rank Nation Swimmers Time Celine RiederOliver KlemetIsabel Marie GoseFlorian Wellbrock 1:09:13.3 Barbara PozzobonGinevra TaddeucciMarcello GuidiGregorio Paltrinieri 1:09:15.4 Bettina FábiánViktória Mihályvári-FarkasKristóf RasovszkyDávid Betlehem 1:09:16.7 4 Clémence CoccordanoMarc-Antoine OlivierInès DelacroixLogan Fontaine 1:09:24.7 5 Chelsea GubeckaNicholas SlomanMoesha JohnsonKyle Lee 1:09:59.3 6 Neutral Athletes B Margarita ErshovaKseniia MisharinaSavelii LuzinDenis Adeev 1:10:24.0 7 Ana Marcela CunhaViviane JungblutMatheus MelecchiLuiz Loureiro 1:10:27.2 8 Mariah DeniganBrooke TravisCharlie ClarkJoey Tepper 1:12:01.6 9 Tian MuranZhang JinhouWang KexinLan Tianchen 1:13:33.2 10 Tsao Jun-yanLin Jia-shienTeng Yu-wenCho Cheng-chi 1:14:57.0 11 Mariya FedotovaDarya PushkoGalymzhan BalabekLev Cherepanov 1:15:00.2 12 Matthew CaldwellAmica de JagerKellen JonesCatherine Van Rensburg 1:15:25.2 13 Danna MartínezEsteban EndericaAna AbadDavid Farinango 1:15:30.6 14 Chantal LiewArtyom LukasevitsKate OnaRussel Pang 1:15:39.0 15 Atakan ErcanSu İnalSelinnur SadeEmre Sarp Zeytinoğlu 1:15:42.8 16 Diego ObeleSharon GuerreroAlan GonzálezPaulina Alanís 1:15:54.3 17 Oh Se-beomPark Jae-hunKim Sue-ahHwang Ji-yeon 1:16:01.0 18 Ratthawit ThammananthachoteKamonchanok KwanmuangChonpasanop ChatwutiNithikorn Jeampiriyakul 1:16:37.3 19 Keith SinNip Tsz YinNikita LamChan Tsun Hin 1:18:48.6 20 Prashans Manjunath HiremagalurDiksha Sandip YadavMeenakshi Gopakumar MenonArmy Pal 1:20:59.8 21 Nico EsslingerReza WesterduinMadison BerghTristan Nell 1:22:07.5 22 Ganzorigtyn SugarGongoryn MaidarAmgalangiin AltannarTemüüjingiin Anungoo 1:31:48.7 23 Samir BachelaniAryan JosephSera MawiraMaria Bianchi 1:37:42.7
Further information – Quotes from Wellbrock, Betlehem and Paltrinieri after the race. – Photo gallery from the event
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