Peaks, Steeps and Stunning Alpine Terrain at ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Engadin
Press Release / 10.07.2017
The fourth edition of ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Engadin saw 310 competitors in teams of two from 27 nations battling it out at the challenging and unique swimrun race in the heart of the Swiss Alps. The athletes tackled a total of 46 kilometres of alternating mountain trail running and open water swimming in the alpine lakes at the beautiful Engadin valley. The Swedish brothers Jonas Ekman and Lars Ekman proved at an early stage that they were the team to beat and took overall victory with 05:16:10. Last year's winners overall, the mixed team Kristin Larsson and Daniel Hansson (SWE), had a strong race, finishing fourth and winning the mixed class. The first women's team, Salli Carlfjord and Charlotte Ericsson (SWE), lead the women's fleet most of the course and took women's victory with 06:27:16.
Winnners Men: Jonas Ekman and Lars Ekman (SWE), Team Bröderna Bäver, 05:16:10
Winners Mixed: Kristin Larsson and Daniel Hansson (SWE), Team Addnature/Swedish Armed Forces, 5:37:17
Winners Women: Salli Carlfjord and Charlotte (SWE), Team Öra, 06:27:16
"The race is brutal! But brutally beautiful as well! You can never rest, either you're going up tough uphills or you're going fast downhill. We felt chased all the way, as we knew we had some very strong teams behind us, who are solid uphill. We weren't feeling confident until the very last run, so we pushed it hard all the way," said the exhausted but thrilled winners Jonas Ekman and Lars Ekman at the finish line, taking their second ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series' victory, after having won at ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Utö in 2016.
The ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Engadin course is at around 1 800-2 100 meters of altitude. The winning Ekman brothers played it smart and acclimatised at high altitude since the beginning of the week.
The course provides an original setting for a swimrun race, as runners in wetsuits are not quite expected in the alpine terrain… But it is the ideal landscape for swimrun, with challenging, technical alpine trails to run on and emerald blue alpine lakes to swim across. It is the race with the most elevation in the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series, with a cruel vertical gain of 1 570 metres. Besides the difficult elevation, the 46 km course consists of 40 km trail running, sometimes very technical, and almost 6 km open-water swimming at eight different swim sections in the cold mountain lakes. The brave racers swam in a water temperature of around 13 degrees C, cooling them off after the tough runs. They had 16 changes between running and swimming throughout the course, which is why you keep the wetsuit and shoes on for the entire race.
Despite a grueling race course the backdrop of ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Engadin is nothing but spectacular. High mountains with snowy peaks reign over the valley with its scenic lakes, cows and horses grazing on the flowery meadows, close to the picturesque alpine villages surrounded by magical pine forests. It truly is a unique and original swimrun experience that many teams come back to year after year.
The ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Engadin started the international swimrun movement, as the first race ever outside of Sweden for its first edition in 2014. In 2017, 27 nations competed in the race and the development of swimrun has escalated rapidly with around 450 swimrun events around the globe and at least 350 of them outside of Sweden!
Eight top teams at ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Engadin qualify to the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship 2017, on 4 September 2017 in the Stockholm Archipelago: top 3 men, top 3 mixed, top 2 women.
Top 3 results ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Engadin, 9 July 2017
Men
1. Jonas Ekman and Lars Ekman (SWE), Team Bröderna Bäver, 05:16:10
2. Oscar Olsson and Martin Flinta (SWE), Team Löplabbet, 5:29:00
3. Santi Pellejero Gacia and Francesc De Lanuza Gimeno (ESP), Team Head – VO2, 5:34:02
Mixed
1. Kristin Larsson and Daniel Hansson (SWE), Team Addnature/Swedish Armed Forces, 5:37:17
2. Michelle Nyström and Erik Fridolf (SWE), Team Garmin, 5:54:28
3. Diane Sadik (SUI) and Tim Lange (GER), Team Swimrunshop.com, 6:02:46
Women
1. Salli Carlfjord and Charlotte (SWE), Team Öra, 06:27:16
2. Anna Sporrong (SWE) and Nina Ellmark (GER), Spiggen och Spättan, 06:32:08
3. Malin Broström and Marie Dasler (SWE), Team Merrell, 7:01:14
Website here: http://otilloswimrun.com/races/engadin
