Florian Wellbrock’s series is becoming more and more impressive.

Florian Wellbrock swam to gold with the open water relay team, winning his fourth title at the World Championships in Singapore. The 27-year-old won alongside Celine Rieder, Oliver Klemet, and Isabel Gose. The German quartet prevailed over the Italian team in the 4x1500 meters in the ocean at Palawan Beach. Hungary took bronze.

No other male or female swimmer has ever won four open water titles at a World Championship. "We made history today," said Wellbrock. He had already set a record with his first place in the new Knockout Sprint on Saturday—his third gold at these World Championships.

Four starts, four victories: It doesn't get any better than this. The Bremen native has already won nine World Championship gold medals in open water in his career. Only Thomas Lurz has been more successful, with twelve titles.

"The pressure isn't getting any less," said Wellbrock. He said he was very nervous the night before and had trouble falling asleep.

In another tropical heat wave early in the morning, Rieder led the German relay team into the race. The 24-year-old kept the top nations behind her and handed over to Klemet. The Olympic silver medalist and Frenchman Marc-Antoine Olivier pulled away from their competitors. "When you have the best open water swimmer in history behind you, you don't have to do much," Klemet said of the victory, looking at Wellbrock with a smile.

Gose, who celebrated her open water debut at the World Championships in Singapore, also swam strongly. "It was great," she said. "Now I'm taking home a gold medal. I'm very proud of the team." For her and Rieder, it's their first World Championship gold.

The 23-year-old sent Wellbrock, the final swimmer, into the final lap with a lead of about ten seconds over the closest competitors. The dominant athlete in these championships so far allowed the competition to close in once more, but still brought the victory home.

Wellbrock now has a few days to recover and prepare for the races in the pool. The exceptional athlete from SC Magdeburg also wants to compete for medals there. The indoor competitions start next Sunday (July 27).