Ibiza is fun, it is moments, unique memories… and something like that gave us the 3km Knockout Sprint in the Open Water World Cup. The Hungarian swimmer David Bethlehem He won the crown, as he did yesterday in the 10K, after three great rounds. For its part, the Spanish Mateo Garcia He was on the verge of the grand final.
The ‘3km Knockout Sprint’ heightens the excitement of the World Cup. I had already done it just an hour before in the women’s event, but now it was the turn of the men’s event. 80 swimmers gathered in the bay of Santa Eulària des Riu with the aim of reigning in the ‘chaos’ of the KO race. A test that consisted of three roundsa first of 1,500 meters (divided into three heats), a second of 1,000m and a final of 500m.
First sleeves
The first round had a dizzying pace. With a great Carlos Garach who qualified in third position with a very good time: 16:39.40. The round, of this ‘heat 1’, was led by David Bethlehem (16:38.70), who had managed to rise to the top of the 10K box the previous day.
Mateo García stood out in the second round. The Spaniard obtained the classification thanks to his 16:59.50, which allowed him to finish the test in fourth position. The leader of the group was the German Florian Wellbrock, who clocked a great kilometer and a half in 16:57.40.
In the third sleeve, which It was the slowest of the threethe best news for the Spanish arrived. Both Christopher Vargas (17:12.00), as Mario Mendez (17:13.30), they managed to advance to the round in a group led by the Italian Gregorio Paltrinieri (17:11.30).
The 30 best swimmers of the morning met at the semi-finals of this ‘Knockout’. A one kilometer round that David led from start to finish Bethlehem. The Hungarian gave his rivals no choice and finished first with a time of 11:14.50. The Spanish Mateo Garcia He was about to ‘sneak’ into the final, but finished the round eleventh with an 11:21.10.
A dizzying ending
David Bethlehem was the fastest (5:43.30). It was in the final round and in all the previous ones. The Hungarian swimmer closed a memorable weekend in which he won the 10K crown and the 3km Knockout crown, all less than 24 hours apart. Without a doubt this Open Water World Cup held in Ibiza bears his name.
Top-3 Men: 3km Knockout Sprint Open Water World Cup Ibiza 2026
- David BETLEHEM (HUN)
- Gregorio PALTRINIERI (ITA)
- Marc-Antoine OLIVIER (FRA)
