Pressure Is On For The ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship

Press Release / 23.08.2018

The ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship in the Stockholm archipelago is the original race of the rapidly emerging sport of swimrun. The 13th edition of the prestigious race will take place on Monday 3 September. The 160 teams of two from across the globe will be trail running and open water swimming for 75 km across the beautiful archipelago. ÖTILLÖ is a gruelling, spectacular race, known as one of the toughest one-day races in the world.

ÖTILLÖ, meaning “island to island” in Swedish, is a unique race in an exceptional environment and has become one of the most respected endurance races in the world. The race originates from a crazy idea and a bet in the bar between four friends! The course is hard and long. Technical trails, slippery rocks, and cold, sometimes rough swims with a lot of current is part of the demanding course of 65 km of running and 10 km of swimming, over and between 24 islands. At the premier race in 2006 the race winners finished after 12 hours. Only one more team of the nine starting teams made it to the finish line. Since then, performance, experience and speed has stepped up the game.

In the last few years the level of racing has increased to mind blowing speeds in all three categories, men, mixed and women. Swede Daniel Hansson, Swedish Armed Forces, managed the impressive feat of finishing under the magic eight-hour limit two years in a row, in 2016 with Lelle Moberg, and in 2017 with Jesper Svensson. The time to beat is last year’s record speed: 7 hours 58 minutes and 06 seconds in 75 km of technical terrain!

Last year’s imposing winners in the mixed and women’s categories, Eva Nyström (SWE) and Adriel Young (AUS) Team Thule Crew, and Kristin Larsson (SWE) and Annika Ericsson(SWE) Team Outdoor Experten, will defend their back to back world champion titles but there is a whole armada of strong teams that will chase them down to the last minute of the long course.

Not least can we expect pressure from the golden bib holders in the men’s category and mixed category, George Bjälkemo and Pontus Lindberg (SWE), Team Garmin and Martin Flinta (SWE) and Helena Karaskova Erbenova (CZE) Team Thule Crew. The two teams have won all the previous ÖTILLÖ World Series events 2018 in their respective category and need a win at the ÖTILLÖ World Championship, as well as the ÖTILLÖ 1000 Lakes in Germany in late September, to win six consecutive ÖTILLÖ races and the coveted prize of 33 000 € in each category. Will they manage to beat the reigning world champions and hold on to their 2018 winning streak at Swimrun’s toughest event?

Last year’s edition was the roughest edition yet, with strong winds and rain, making the technical terrain even harder. The men’s category still managed to be faster than ever around the course. If weather conditions calm down for Monday 3 September we can yet again expect some record crushing around the stunning and extremely tough course of ÖTILLÖ.

Teams ÖTILLÖ 2018 https://otilloswimrun.com/races/otillo/teams-2018

The race will be broadcast live, Monday, 3 September from 06:00 CET on http://otilloswimrun.com/live

FAST FACTS ÖTILLÖ – THE SWIMRUN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2018

13th edition

75 km running and swimming from dawn till dusk in the Stockholm archipelago
65 km of trail running

10 km of open water swimming in the Baltic Sea
Water temperature 10–15° C
24 islands to cross

50 changes between running and swimming

The swims are between 100 and 1 780 metres long
The runs are between 70 and 19 700 metres long
Longest swim 1 780 metres

Longest run 19,7 km

160 teams – three categories: men, mixed, women

Teams of two; for safety reasons and for the unique experience
25 Nationalities
Course record: 7 h 58 min 06 sec (2017): Daniel Hansson and Jesper Svensson, Swedish Armed Forces (SWE)
Winners 2017:
Men:  Daniel Hansson and Jesper Svensson (SWE), Team Swedish Armed Forces, 7:58:06
Mixed:  Eva Nyström (SWE) and Adriel Young (AUS), Thule Crew/Trispot.se 9:01:31
Women: Kristin Larsson and Annika Ericsson (SWE), Team Addnature/Campz, 10:03:32

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