Historic hat-trick for German star Wellbrock

History was made in the heat and humidity at Sentosa's Palawan Beach on July 19, when Germany's Florian Wellbrock claimed the men's 3km knockout sprint gold at the World Aquatics Championships for his third title at the ongoing competition.

- Hana Chen

Winner of the 10km freestyle gold at the Tokyo Olympics, as well as multiple world and European titles, the 27-year-old has been dominant in the waters here since the open water swimming competition flagged off on July 16.

After clinching the 10km and 5km titles, he added another feather to his cap on July 19 when he topped his 3km knockout sprint heat, semi-final and final to finish the last stage in 5min 46sec for a hat-trick in Singapore.

The first open water swimmer to claim three golds in a single world championships, he could make it four on July 20 when he competes in the mixed 4x1,500m relay alongside German teammates Celine Rieder, Oliver Klemet and Isabel Gose.

Wellbrock, who is also competing in indoor swimming at these championships and holds the short course world record in the 1,500m freestyle, said at the post-race press conference: "I didn't expect it. It was a completely new situation for me to race the knockout race, so I had no idea how it worked, or what's the best position to start the new heat.