GWNAGJU, South Korea, July 18 -- The German mixed relay team won the 5km open water swimming title in a tight race where just three-tenths of a second divided the top three teams at the 18th World Championships here on Thursday.
The German team, anchored by 24-year-old veteran Rob Muffels, finished in 53 minutes and 58.70 seconds, just 0.2 second ahead of the Italians who secured silver and 0.3 second faster than the U.S. team who took bronze.
The Germans, who led off with two female swimmers, were in eighth place at the midpoint of the race, but the third male swimmer brought his team into the lead after the third leg.
Muffels, the final swimmer, maintained the lead, claiming his second medal of these championships. He secured a bronze medal and Olympic qualification in the 10km open water race on Tuesday.
"Each of us did a really good job, it was a perfect strategy. We started with our two girls swimming the first two legs and then our boys had to make their way to the front," said Muffels.
"For me, I think it was a great program this week. I earned a second world championship medal in this event and I earned a bronze medal in the 10km," said the German swimmer.
The mixed 5km race was introduced in 2011 when Germany earned a bronze medal. Since then, the German teams won the title on three occasions in 2013 from Barcelona, in 2017 from Kazan and in 2017 from Budapest.