The Flying French Win at ÖTILLÖ 1000 Lakes 2019
Press Release / 22.09.2019
The fifth ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series race of the season and the first qualifier for ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship 2020 went fast!
This fourth edition of ÖTILLÖ 1000 Lakes saw the young french team "Head - Mat/Sudrunning" - Hugo Tormento & Matthieu Poullain pull away after mid-course from the other front teams for an impressive win. The first all- French winning an ÖTILLÖ World Series race. in the mixed and womens category the two winning teams pulled away from the chasing teams from early on in the race. They pushed hard all the way to the finish line with no place to relax until the end. They are all keeping impressive speeds.
ÖTILLÖ 1000 Lakes is in the area of the thousand lakes (Mecklenburger Seenplatte) just 70 km North of Berlin. The more than 4000 freshwater lakes are surrounded by beautiful Beech tree forests where you feel that you are running in a tunnel of green. The trails are hard-packed sand and fast to run.
THE WINNERS, Hugo Tormento and Matthieu Poullain from France managed to pull away from the leading pack and cross the finish line in Rheinsberg as the first team after 4H 21m 06s (new course record), five minutes ahead of Nicolas Remires (FRA) and Francesc de Lanuza Gimeno (ESP), Team Envol. The very strong Martin Flinta & Jonna Hedbys (SWE) Team Thule Crew/ Head SR finished as first mixed team, with the time of 5:01:39, sixth overall! The first women’s team World Champions Fanny Kuhn & Desirée Andersson (SWE) Team Envol completed an impressive race and finished after 5:04:00. 7th overall.
The Race In Detail
“After about mid-race we decided to push as hard as we could to see if we could make a break and then if we would manage to hold it without cracking. We are so happy we managed!” said the thrilled winners Matthieu Poullain & Hugo Tormento Team Head - Mat/Sudrunning(FRA) after finishing as overall winners.
The ÖTILLÖ Swimrun 1000 Lakes World Series course is 42km long of which 34 km are running and 8 km are swimming. The course is hard and fast. Each of the 12 runs are almost flat on hard-packed sand trails through beautiful beech tree forests. The 10 swims are in clean, beautiful lakes where there is very little waves or wind. This in combination makes for a very fast race course which is very challenging as you always have to push it. The course is linear with a start in the beautiful town of Wesenberg and the finish in the town of Rheinsberg, almost straight South.
Water temperatures have been between 16 - 17 degress with alomost ideal conditions. The beech tree forests makes this course almost to a magical experience running in a very linear world. It truly is a unique and original swimrun experience that many teams come back to year after year.
Several teams had to struggle to make it in time for the two cut offs. Some had to abandon along the way. The top teams pushed each other hard, chasing each other in a tight group all the way to the finish line. The level of competition has really exploded!
At all ÖTILLÖ swimrun World Series events teams race in pairs. Using each other’s strengths will push boundaries. The team experience is incomparable and is part of why swimrun is growing so fast in popularity.
114 teams of two from 21 different nations travelled to the 1000 Lakes area to compete in the ÖTILLÖ 1000 Lakes, the lfirst qualifier for ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship 2020 in the Swedish archipelago.
The day prior to the race two shorter, more accessible race were organised, the ÖTILLÖ Sprint and ÖTILLÖ Experience, offering the same flavours as the longer, more challenging race but in a smaller format.
Six top teams at ÖTILLÖ 1000 Lakes qualify to ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship 2020 on August 31st, 2020 in the Stockholm Archipelago; top 2 men, top 2 mixed, top 2 women.
Top 3 results ÖTILLÖ Swimrun 1000 Lakes, September 22nd, 2019
Men
1. Matthieu Poullain & Hugo Tormento Team Head - Mat/Sudrunning(FRA)
2. Nicolas Remires (FRA) & Francesc De Lazuna Gimeno (ESP) Team Envol
3. Fredrik Axegård & Alex Flores (SWE) Team ARK Swimrun
Mixed
1. Martin Flinta & Jonna Hedbys (SWE), Team Thule Crew / Head SR team
2. Sofia Axelsson & Tony Svensson (SWE) Team Wonder woman & Aquaman
3. Per Ahlin & Lisa Ring (SWE) - Team Rå/IK NocOut.se
Women
1.Fanny Kuhn & Desirée Andersson (SWE) Team Envol
2. Anna Hellström & Jenny Ramstedt (SWE) Team Head Swimming
3. Linnéa Olausson & Cassandra Eliasson (SWE) Primalcoaching HEAD
Complete results list here: https://otilloswimrun.com/races/1000-lakes/results-2019/