New champions were crowned in each category and a course record was smashed along the way at the windy and tough 2015 ÖTILLÖ SwimRun World Championships in Sweden. The race features 65km of running and 10km of swimming with endless tricky transitions in between. It is basically swim, run, swim, run, swim, run, swim, run, swim, run, etc.
Simon Börjeson (SWE) and Rasmus Regnstrand (SWE) of team Addnature Östersjösimmet led the race for a long time thanks to their swimming prowess, but they were caught late in the race during a long run section by Björn Englund (SWE) and Paul Krochak (CAN) of Team HEAD Swimming (bib 2), who then stormed to the win in a time of 8:29:11. Defending champions Lennart Moberg (SWE) and Daniel Hansson (SWE) 8:36:08 of Team Swedish Armed Forces also had a strong finish to grab the runner-up spot. French athlete Nicolas Remires and Aussie Julian Dent of Team Envol also caught the long time leaders to take the final podium spot in 8:39:39. Team Addnature Östersjösimmet crossed the line in 4th place around 18 minutes after the new champions.
“This victory is worth so much. We were so far behind but managed to keep our spirits high and tried to stay confident to catch them. When we saw them I thought I was hallucinating! We were so tired when we passed them but tried to look strong… It was so tough this year. I have never been that tired and the waves have never been that big. Our win was pure teamwork. I am shattered but so happy,” said Krochak, the Canadian member of the winning team.
Staffan Björklund (SWE) and Marika Wagner (SWE) of team Apollo (bib 211) completely smashed the course record in a time 8:55:39 and finished 5th overall. With that time, Wagner became the first female to go sub-9 hours on that course. The battle for the other 2 podium spots was pretty tight, but in the end Team Hästens Sleep to Perform with Swedes Helena Sivertsson and Marcus Hultgren crossed the line in second place with a time of 9:37:46, and just outside the top 10 overall. Team Orca with Fanny Danckwardt-Lillieström and Pär Kristoffersson of Sweden finished third in 9:42:16.
Annika Ericsson (SWE) of Team SurfSpot (bib 109) went into the 2015 ÖTILLÖ race week without a teammate, and then was connected with Maya Tesch (SWE). The two met for the first time on Friday and then swam briefly together to figure out the ideal tether length, and then raced well and surprised themselves with a comfortable win in 10:30:36. Jenny Nilsson (SWE) and Magdalena Trumstedt (SWE) of Team Serneke finished second in 10:58:37, and the defending mother-daughter squad of Team LensWay with Charlotta Nilsson (SWE) and Bibben Nordblom (SWE) grabbed third in 11:12:53. Nilsson used this race to get ready for Kona and said in a post-race interview that she hopes the water in Hawaii will be warmer. Americans Sara McLarty and Misty Becerra went into the race highly motivated but an early hard fall by McLarty changed their goal from placing to finishing, and that they did in 13:01:52.
In all SwimRun events paddles and pull buoys are permitted, and that is true for ÖTILLÖ too, but all "equipment" must be carried the complete distance from start to finish and can't be dropped along the way. With 22 swims, the teams run in their wetsuits and swim with their running shoes on their feet. Athletes compete in teams of 2 and have to stay within 10 meters of each other at all times, or risk being disqualified. The events are very popular in Europe and have grown like wildfire, but with no official event to date in North America. North Americans, however, did compete in ÖTILLÖ.
We will have a gallery from the 2015 ÖTILLÖ SwimRun World Championships up soon.
ÖTILLÖ SwimRun World Championships
Utö, Sweden / September 7, 2015
Top male finishers
1. Team HEAD Swimming (2) Björn Englund (SWE) and Paul Krochak (CAN) 8:29:11
2. Swedish Armed Forces (1) Lennart Moberg (SWE) and Daniel Hansson (SWE) 8:36:08
3. Envol (25) Nicolas Remires (FRA) and Julian Dent (AUS) 8:39:39
4. Addnature Östersjösimmet (27) Simon Börjeson (SWE) and Rasmus Regnstrand (SWE) 8:47:15
5. Team Actic (33) Rasmus Enlund (SWE) and Fredrik Haglund (SWE) 8:59:28
Top mixed teams
1. Team Peak Performance powered by Apollo (211) Staffan Björklund (SWE) and Marika Wagner (SWE) 8:55:39 *
2. Hästens Sleep to Perform (203) Helena Sivertsson (SWE) and Marcus Hultgren (SWE) 9:37:46
3. Team Orca (232) Fanny Danckwardt-Lillieström (SWE) and Pär Kristoffersson (SWE) 9:42:16
4. Team Garmin Icebug (201) Ulrika Eriksson (SWE) and Peter Oom (SWE) 9:50:26
5. Ångaloppet (203) Nils Zätterström (SWE) and Lisa Johansson (SWE) 10:27:12
Top female teams
1. Team SurfSpot (109) Annika Ericsson (SWE) and Maya Tesch (SWE) 10:30:36
2. Team Serneke (102) Jenny Nilsson (SWE) and Magdalena Trumstedt (SWE) 10:58:37
3. Team LensWay (101) Bibben Nordblom (SWE) and Charlotta Nilsson (SWE) 11:12:53
4. Addnature (111) Kristin Larsson (SWE) and Carolin Holmqvist (SWE) 11:27:09
5. Poolkampen (105) Karin Lidén (SWE) and Charlotte Eriksson (SWE) 12:23:38
* = New Course Record
