title: Open water swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships
text: # Open water swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships
  
  The Open Water Swimming events at the 8th FINA World Aquatics Championships were swum in the ocean off Perth, Western Australia on January 6 and 11, 1998. The discipline featured 4 events: a 5-kilometer race, or "5K", for males and females, and a 25-kilometer race (25K) for males and females. It was the first time the 5K was raced a World Championships. The races featured 80 swimmers from 26 nations.
  
  ## Results
  
  ### Men
  
  | Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 5K details | Aleksey Akatyev  Russia | 55:18.6 | Ky Hurst  Australia | 55:24.9 | Luca Baldini  Italy | 55:37.4 |
  | 25K details | Aleksey Akatyev  Russia | 5:05:42.1 | David Meca  Spain | 5:07:22.9 | Gabriel Chaillou  Argentina | 5:07:52.6 |
  
  ### Women
  
  | Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 5K details | Erica Rose  USA | 59:23.5 | Edith van Dijk  Netherlands | 1:00:58.5 | Peggy Büchse  Germany | 1:01:05.8 |
  | 25K details | Tobie Smith  USA | 5:31:20.1 | Peggy Büchse  Germany | 5:32:19.2 | Edith van Dijk  Netherlands | 5:38.06.9 |
  
  ### Team
  
  | Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 5K details | USA John Flanagan Austin Ramirez Erica Rose | 2:52:12.2 | Russia Aleksey Akatyev Evgueni Bezroutchenko Olga Gouseva | 2:52:16.7 | Italy Luca Baldini Fabio Venturini Valeria Casprini | 2:52:41.6 |
  | 25K details | Italy Claudio Gargaro Fabrizio Pescatori Valeria Casprini | 16:10:18.2 | Australia Grant Robinson Mark Saliba Tracey Knowles | 16:22:54.3 | USA Tobie Smith Nathan Stooke Chuck Wiley | 16:46:13.3 |
  
  ### Medal standings
  
  | Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | USA | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
  | 2 | RUS | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
  | 3 | ITA | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
  | 4 | AUS | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
  | 5 | GER | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
  | 5 | NED | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
  | 7 | ESP | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
  | 8 | ARG | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
  | Totals (8 entries) | Totals (8 entries) | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 |
  