ÖTILLÖ(swim run racing)
All your questions answered plus “the secret weapon”
The gun goes off and you run, then swim, then run, then swim, then repeat numerous times. Welcome to the world of Ötillö, or if your like me, I simply call it swim run racing.
Don’t be confused with the sport of aquathon, its close but at the same time its very different. Trust me, its different. Your in a team of two instead of racing as an individual, all equipment needs to be carried with you instead of leaving it in a transition area, and in a swim run race you can race with swim aids including pull buoy, paddles and “the secret weapon”.
A swim run race will generally follow a course which will take the competitors off road and into the wilderness following a course that will flow through running and swimming in random segments.
History of Ötillö
The term Ötillö is a Swedish word meaning island to island, and this is where the races heritage comes from. The story goes that back in 2002 a late night drinking session between Utö Värdshus and Janne Lindberg decided between a group of friends, they would challenge themselves as teams of two to run and swim across the wilderness in Sweden, to three different restaurants in 24 hours with the losing team paying for the winners meals. The format then became its first commercial race in 2006, where I’ve been watching closely over the past five years or so, intently hoping that it would reach the shores of Australia soon as the hype in Europe was growing.
When I heard that Melbourne would finally be playing host to a swim run race in 2016, I was pretty eager to get my spot. The rules of the race state that you need to complete the race as part of a team of two and a quick email out to my local triathlon club secured a team mate and the eventual race entry.
Logistics
So this brings with it one important aspect that you don’t always get with other multi sport or adventure races and this is Logistics.
So being in a team, you need to be within 10 feet of your team member. Not sure if this is a hard an fast rule, but if you team member calls it a day, then your race is also over. Secondly, anything you take, you need to carry with you for the entire race. So if you decide to wear shoes while you’re running, you need to also decide if you’re going to be swimming with these same running shoes, or carrying them some how during the swim. Any equipment left on the course results in disqualification for your team.
Oh So Cold
We had read an article of a race in Germany where competitors were struggling in the could and this was all new to us. The day of the race was in early Summer but was unseasonably cold. The race went on and our team stood strong but we needed to cut our race short due to the small issue of hypothermia after rain and the wind picking up after the first two hours of the race. This is interesting because it is obviously a fine line between racing, freezing and over heating because some of the teams wearing full wetsuits ending up calling it a day because they were over heating.
Chaffing
Yep, even though we only got through the first half of the race, we were bleeding in numerous body parts. Everything that could rub, did and resulted in chaffing across the board. If you think it’s going to rub, put some Vaseline on it.
Shoes Stay On
This is an interesting call, but it doesn’t really slow you down as much as you think. We didn’t even need to drill holes in the bottom of our shoes to get some extra drainage. Running with wet runners was not really any issue either…Not sure if everyone out there would agree.
Swimmers Are Strong
The one thing I have prided myself on over the past few years is that my focus on swimming has yielded great results. Don’t get me wrong, I am not pushing Olympic selection, but I do boast a sub one hour IRONMAN swim leg. So when I got out on the course, I thought that this would be a strength of our team heading into the race. We definitely held our own but the standard of swimmers in the race was impressive. Swim run racing also brings with it some more interesting aspects to the swim leg with the use of paddles and flotation aids being allowed for use. Your flotation aid needs to measure less than 60 cm by 100 cm, but this can be both a help and hindrance during a long race.
Swim Run Racing in Oz
There are races in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales provided by SwimRun Australia and Frog Challange. The first race took place in May 2016 and the popularity continues to increase further. As the sport continues to grow it is now expanding into New Zealand and hopefully into Asia.
The Secret Weapon
I know you’ve been waiting patiently for this and hope that it can help. Watching footage of races in Europe, there was something that I noticed the the front running teams were doing. They weren’t using pull buoys. Instead they were wearing compression socks with flotation added to the compression socks. A quick “McGyver” and testing session the week before the race our team was able to craft some pool noodles into our flotation aid that fit snug in our compression socks. This meant no need to carry a pull buoy during the run, quick transition between run and swim, and kept our running shoes even higher in the water for better swim position.
Just make sure that your compression socks are tight enough to hold onto your floats as the constant running and bounding may shake them loose during the race.
Use this information wisely and hopefully you will have better results than my team did on our first time round.
