Suspense Before The ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship 2017

Press Release / 24.08.2017

The ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship in the Stockholm archipelago is the original race of the rapidly emerging sport of swimrun. The 12th edition of the renowned race will take place on Monday 4 September with 300 athletes lined up for the challenge. The 150 teams of two from across the globe will travel by foot and through water for 75 km across the beautiful archipelago. From dusk till dawn they will run and swim over and between 26 islands in the Baltic Sea. ÖTILLÖ is a gruelling, spectacular race, known as one of the toughest one-day races in the world, and leaves no one unaffected.

The stunning Stockholm archipelago consists of over 24 000 islands. Athletes of the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship 2017 will cross one of the most beautiful parts, from the sailing mecca of Sandhamn to the "island of love", Utö. They run on and swim to the big islands of Runmarö, Nämdö and Ornö with small year-round communities. They encounter summer homes and uninhabited islands.

ÖTILLÖ, meaning Island to Island in Swedish, is a unique race in a unique environment and has become one of the most prestigious endurance races in the world. It all started 12 years ago with the conception of ÖTILLÖ, originating from a crazy idea and a bet in the bar between four friends! The course is hard. And the course is long. Rough trails, rocks, and cold, sometimes rough swims are on the menu. At its inception in 2006 the race winners finished after 12 hours. The second team after 14h 30. No more of the nine starting teams finished. Since then performance, experience and speed has stepped up the game quite dramatically.

In 2016 incredible performances went down when all three categories, men, mixed and women crushed their respective course record on the 75 km long race. Daniel Hansson and Lennart Lelle Moberg, Swedish Armed Forces, managed to finish under the magic eight-hour limit at 7 hours 59 minutes and 4 seconds!

For 2017 there are numerous strong teams on the line up: Olympians, Swimrun Champions, Triathlon Champions, elite Trail Runners and so on. Current course record holder Lelle Moberg is injured, his team partner Daniel Hansson will race with a new team mate yet to be revealed, and the fastest time down the course is up for grabs. Last year's impressive winners in the mixed and women's categories, Eva Nyström (SWE) and Adriel Young (AUS), and Kristin Larsson (SWE) and Annika Ericsson (SWE), are back to defend their 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.

Let's see what 2017 will have in store. Nature itself is a strong component to the race, including the fact that weather and wind are also interesting factors to defining the speed on the course. One thing is for certain, swimrun athletes are increasing in numbers all over the world, they are becoming more and more experienced, competition is getting harder and harder and speed is accelerating. If conditions are right we can once again expect some mind blowing times around this amazing, but extremely tough course!

Teams ÖTILLÖ 2017 http://otilloswimrun.com/races/otillo/teams-2017/

Watch ÖTILLÖ Live!

ÖTILLÖ has an extensive live production following the race with live video and commentary.
Go to or link to www.otilloswimrun.com/live for a full experience with the live video accompanied by other social feeds and detailed race information following the competitors with GPS. Starting 05:45 CET Monday 4 September.

Fast Facts ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship 2017

12th 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
26 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
150 teams – 74 men, 46 mixed, 30 women
Teams of two; for safety reasons and for the unique experience
20 Nationalities
Course record: 7 h 59 min 04 sec (2016): Lelle Moberg and Daniel Hansson, Swedish Armed Forces (SWE)

Winners 2016:
Men: Lelle Moberg (SWE) and Daniel Hansson (SWE), Swedish Armed Forces, 7:59:04
Mixed: Eva Nyström (SWE) and Adriel Young (AUS), Thule Adventure Team 8:49:58
Women: Kristin Larsson (SWE) and Annika Ericsson (SWE), Addnature, 9:32:03

Ranked by CNN as one of the toughest endurance challenges in the world. Featured in NYT, Outside Magazine, l'Equipe Magazine, TF1, Focus, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Le Monde, The Daily Telegraph and many more.
 
ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series 2017

Six qualifying races to ÖTILLÖ:
ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Hvar, Croatia, 2 April -17  First edition!
ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Utö, Sweden, 28 May -17
ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Isles of Scilly, UK, 17 June -17
ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Engadin, Switzerland, 9 July -17
ÖTILLÖ Swimrun 1000 Lakes, Germany, 1 Oct -17 (qualifier to ÖTILLÖ 2018)
At each World Series event a sprint race is organised the previous day.

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