The ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series continues on Sunday, May 20th with a stop at the birthplace of Swimrun. The island of Utö in the southern part of the Stockholm archipelago in Sweden is where the original bet was made that instigated the sport of Swimrun. ÖTILLÖ notes that, since then, its swimrun event format has become ‘one of the fastest growing endurance sports in the world’.
Utö in the Stockholm archipelago is also called the island of love. It will host the second race of the 2018 ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series, with close to 200 teams from 21 nations on the start line on race day. Some of the best teams in the world will chase the coveted Golden Bib and take on the challenge of winning six ÖTILLÖ races in a row and the prize purse of €33,000 per category.
Others are on-site to try to get one of the eight qualification spots to ‘the holy grail of Swimrun’, the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship. The 13th edition of Swimrun World Championship takes place on 3 September 2018.
Mats Skott, Race Director of the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series and one of the founders of the sport said, “Finally we are back in the Stockholm Archipelago and the island of Utö. This is where it all started for us, 13 years ago and it feels like coming home. We cannot wait to share this location and race course as it is why swimrun has become the way it is.”
The ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series is heading for its third season with a minimum of six qualifier races for the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship. One new event is seeing its birth in the autumn of 2018, with details on this to follow in due course.
ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series 2018. Six qualifying races to ÖTILLÖ:
- ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Hvar, Croatia, 8 April 2018
- ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Utö, Sweden, 20 May
- ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Isles of Scilly, UK, 10 June
- ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Engadin, Switzerland, 8 July
- ÖTILLÖ Swimrun 1000 Lakes, Germany, 30 Sept (qualifier to ÖTILLÖ 2019)
- ÖTILLÖ Swimrun XX – event to be officially confirmed, Autumn -18 (qualifier to ÖTILLÖ 2019)
At each ÖTILLÖ World Series event a sprint race is organised on the previous day.
Renowned as one of the toughest one-day races in the world, the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship has its 13th edition on 3 September 2018. This event runs over 75 km between 26 islands in the Stockholm Archipelago.
