ÖTILLÖ, ‘the original and toughest race’ of the new and rapidly growing endurance sport of swimrun, is expanding. With an increasing demand for swimrun races around the world, a whole new set of races are being launched as the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series.
For 2016, the series consists of four qualifying races for ÖTILLÖ, the Swimrun World Championship. New events for 2016 are two ÖTILLÖ Swimrun races – in the Isles of Scilly, UK, and the 1000 Lakes in Germany – building an international world series together with the two previously existing events Utö in Sweden and Engadin in the Swiss Alps.
Around 1500 athletes will be competing in the growing family of ÖTILLÖ events 2016, and the organizing team note that just as many are on waiting lists.
As a release from ÖTILLÖ adds, ‘The vision is clear, in 2017 the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series will expand further and outside of Europe. Who would ever have thought of this explosive development of swimrun back in 2006 when ÖTILLÖ was founded, thanks to a drunken bet!’
The ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series events are qualifiers for ÖTILLÖ, the Swimrun World Championship, in the Stockholm archipelago, and taking place on 5 September 2016. ÖTILLÖ is building renown as one of the toughest one-day races in the world. Athletes run 65K on island trails, slippery rocks, unbeaten terrain and swim a total of 10K in the cold water of the Baltic Sea.
The course passes over and between 26 islands. The qualifier races of the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series are positioned as being almost as tough as the original race and are based on the same philosophy as ÖTILLÖ, to ‘create unique races in unique places in wild nature.’
For 2016 the World Series consists of four events including a sprint version at each event, the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Sprints, for those who want to try out a shorter, more accessible course. For 2017 more races in new countries will add to the list of destinations.
“It is fantastic that we are expanding our horizons and growing our set of ÖTILLÖ races,” said Race Director Michael Lemmel who, together with his partner Mats Skott, both from Sweden, founded ÖTILLÖ and the swimrun concept.
“We are really looking forward to 2016, it feels like a ‘new’ kick off year for Swimrun!”
- ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Utö, Sunday 29 May 2016 – 39K total – 300 teams
- ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Isles of Scilly, Saturday 18 June 2016 – 40-45K total – 120 teams
- ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Engadin, Sunday, 10 July 2016 – 53K total – 180 teams
- ÖTILLÖ Swimrun 1000 Lakes, Sunday 3 October 2016 – approx. 45K total – 200 teams
Helping to build a retail presence for swimrun related products, ÖTILLÖ is also presenting its long-time partner Addnature and its German sister company Campz as international partners for all ÖTILLÖ events. Addnature is a dominant online outdoor store in Scandinavia while Campz has a strong presence across Europe.
www.otilloswimrun.com
www.campz.com
www.addnature.com
