A Tight Battle at the Season Finale - ÖTILLÖ Swimrun 1000 Lakes

Press Release / 01.10.2017

117 teams (234 participants) from 26 different nations took on the start of the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun 1000 Lakes in the picturesque town of Wesenberg in Mecklenburg Vorpommern, to finish 41,4 km later in Rheinsberg.

The ÖTILLÖ 1000 Lakes is a fast, beautiful swimrun journey of trail running through dense beech tree forests and swimming in prestine, flat lakes. To the competitors’ delight the race saw much warmer temperatures than last year, both in the water and in the air. With an average of 14 degrees C in the water and around 13 degrees C in the air, the conditions were perfect for a swimrun race.

With a very strong field of athletes and a flat course for the final race of the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun season, the pace at the top was faster than ever. A whole group of international teams held an exciting and extremely tight battle throughout the course. As swimrun is spreading in popularity around the world, up and coming teams are challenging the experienced Swedish contingent. Germany was well represented on home turf with several strong teams in the top group. Local SwimrunArt Odw, Sebastian Bleitgen and Frank Mertins, impressed by leading parts of the course. However, last year’s winners Pontus Lindeberg and Georg Bjälkemo of Team Garmin (SWE), as well as Frenchmen Nicolas Remires and Guillaume Heneman, Team Envol, proved that experience and tactics pay off. Team Garmin managed to get out on top with only a couple minutes’ margin to take the prestigious overall win in front of Team Envol and win the final race of the season with a blasting time of 4 hours, 27 minutes and 2 seconds.

The battle for first in the mixed and women’s categories was as equally tight. The strong French mixed team Marylise Pansart and Franck Martin, Team Smart Athlete – Zone 3, finished only seconds in front of team Wolff Wear Swimrun, Pär Kristoffersson (SWE) and Helen Maalinn(EST).

The two leading women’s teams were pushing each other around the course. Team Icebug, Ulrika Eriksson and Helena Sivertsson (SWE), had a magnificent race, dominating the women and finished ten minutes in front of the strong duo Diane Sadik (SUI) and women’s world champion Annika Ericsson (SWE), Swimrunshop.com. Team Icebug also competed in and won Saturday’s shorter sprint race!

“It was a fast race, the course is flat so you really had to run fast to stay on top! That was tough. But the race is really beautiful and it was so rewarding with all the spectators cheering all along the way!” said Ulrika Eriksson of winning Team Icebug.

With the ÖTILLÖ 1000 Lakes being the last World Series race of the 2017 swimrun season a winner of the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series 2017 was appointed in each category:

Women – Sportextremeswimrun.com, Rosemary Byde and Isobel Joiner (GBR)
Mixed – Team Garmin, Erik Fridolf and Michelle Nyström (SWE)
Men – Nynäshamns Ångbryggeri, Johan Carlsson and Joakim Brunzell (SWE)

The winners are based on the most amount of points collected after the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series events 2017: ÖTILLÖ Hvar (CRO), ÖTILLÖ Utö (SWE), ÖTILLÖ Isles of Scilly (GBR), ÖTILLÖ Engadin (SUI), and ÖTILLÖ 1000 Lakes (GER), as well as the ÖTILLÖ Sprint 1000 Lakes.

Mats Skott, swimrun co-founder and race director ÖTILLÖ Swimrun (with Michael Lemmel) wraps up the ÖTILLÖ 2017 season:

“ÖTILLÖ 1000 Lakes was a worthy final to a fantastic ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series 2017. Congratulations to all winners! The season showed once more that swimrun now really has taken off internationally. The interest in swimrun is increasing all over the world. There are more and more competitions worldwide, and we're also planning to extend the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series for 2018. I think the success of swimrun builds on the fact that it is much more than just a race. Swimrun is about the spirit of people who love to move in a natural environment. It’s about the respect for nature. Sustainability is an important factor. Another reason for its success is team spirit. This sport is about showing respect for each other. We are looking forward to continue this spirit for the next season.”

Apart from winning the ÖTILLÖ World Series 2017, eight top teams at ÖTILLÖ Swimrun 1000 Lakes qualify to the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship 2018, on 3 September 2018, in the Stockholm Archipelago; top 3 men, top 3 mixed, top 2 women.

Top 3 result ÖTILLÖ Swimrun 1000 Lakes, 1 October 2017
Men
1. Pontus Lindberg and George Bjälkemo (SWE), Team Garmin, 4.27.02
2. Nicolas Remires and Guillaume Heneman (FRA), Team Envol, 4.29.42
3. Sebastian Bleitgen and Frank Mertins (GER), SwimrunART Odw, 4.33.59

Mixed
1. Marylise Pansart and Franck Martin (FRA), Team Smart Athlete – Zone 3, 4.53.20
2. Helen Maalinn (EST) and Pär Kristoffersson (SWE), Wolff Wear Swimrun, 4.53.52
3. Rhian Martin (GBR) and Ben Martin (GBR), Team Drummond Clinic, 4.56.31

Women
1. Ulrika Eriksson and Helena Sivertsson (SWE), Team Icebug, 4.56.19
2. Diane Sadik (SUI) and Annika Ericsson (SWE), Swimrunshop.com, 5.06.59
3. Marika Wagner and Maja Tesch (SWE), Team Vivobarefoot, 5.25.48

Complete results ÖTILLÖ 1000 Lakes 2017: http://otilloswimrun.com/races/1000-lakes/results-2017/

Final results ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series 2017 (updated when all teams have crossed the finish line): http://swimrunranking.com/rankings/worldseries