Johnson extends open-water dominance with Aussie title

Steve Larkin | January 22, 2026

Moesha Johnson’s dominance of open-water swimming has continued with a convincing victory in the 10km race at the Australian championships.

While Johnson’s victory was easy, the same couldn’t be said of the men’s event, with local favourite Kyle Lee winning an absolute thriller by less than a second.

Johnson, the reigning world champion in the 10km event as well as the 5km distance, was a comfortable winner on Thursday at Bunbury, Western Australia.

The defending champion completed the 10km race, held over eight laps of a 1.25km course, in 1:54:59.30.

Fellow Australian Tayla Martin was second in 1:55:21.20, with Japan’s Sachika Kajimoto more than four minutes behind in third place.

In her first open-water effort, Dolphins pool swimmer Tiana Kritzinger was the third Australian home in 2:00:02.20.

Johnson, who won silver in the 10km open-water event at the 2024 Paris Olympics, was delighted to kick off her season with victory.

“I had my own line at the start and just kind of focused on keeping an even rhythm, building through the race and practising a few things … for the season ahead,” she said.

“It’s a great season opener for me to start and set myself up for the World Cups and Pan Pacs, ultimately.”

In a frantic finish to the men’s event, Lee (1:51:41.50) surged with his left hand to out-touch fellow Dolphin Thomas Raymond (1:51:41.60).

Pool middle-distance star Sam Short, a former 400m world champion, finished third in 1:51:43.70.

Lee, who lives 15km from the waters of Koombana Bay, felt right at home in the lead-up to Thursday’s race.

“It’s been nice to stay home and sleep in my own bed,” the Paris Olympian said.

“To come down here and see so many familiar faces and friends and family that I’ve grown up with is very special.

“(The Bunbury event) gives us the opportunity to go compete at World Cups to try and make that Australian team that will compete at the Pan Pacific Championships, so this is a great start.”

It was the second year in a row Lee and Raymond have fought out a nail-biter.

This year’s winning margin was 0.10 seconds, whereas last year’s Lee out-touched his Queensland rival by just five one-hundredths of a second.

More than 800 athletes are competing in Bunbury, with the event wrapping up on Sunday.

Swimmers are building towards the Pan Pacific Championships in California in August.