The men's 10 kilometre race was won by Olympic champion Ferry Weertman of The Netherlands, while Bruni's compatriot Arianna Bridi was victorious in the women's event over the same distance in the waters of Qiandao Lake.

However, neither world champion Rasovszky nor Bruni were knocked off the top of the overall standings and were crowned World Series champions for 2019.

A total of 27 male swimmers competed in waters of around 27 degrees Celsius amid idyllic scenery in the man-made lake in Zhejiang province.

After a slow start, Weertman gained the lead on the fifth lap and came home well ahead of the rest in 1 hour 56min 0.13sec.

Matteo Furlan of Italy came second in 1:56:05.30 and Kirill Abrosimov of Russia finished third 1:56:12.24, while champion Rasovszky came home fifth.

It was the first major event Weertman had competed in since the World Championships in Gwangju, and he is now planning ahead to the Olympics in Tokyo next summer.

"It was a sort of training and it was amazing," he said after his win.

"My pace was not very fast in the first four laps, so I had to make it tough in the fifth lap when I noticed people were touching my legs and it was getting more crowded around me.

"I'm used to the cold weather and cold water, so it was really good to see I could swim fast in the warm water and weather.

"It's a good preparation for the Olympic Games.

“My focus will be the Olympic Games, I'm hoping I can defend my title.”

The women's race was much more closely contested, the top four all finishing within 1.5 seconds of each other.

Bridi won in 2:04:05.44, with Brazil's Ana-Marcela Cunha only one stroke and 0.33 seconds behind.

World champion Xin Xin of China was third in a final time of 2:04:06.69, while Bruni's fourth place was enough to keep top spot in the overall rankings.