Ötillö is an ultra-endurance race held annually on the first Monday in September in the Stockholm archipelago, Sweden. 160 women's, men's and mixed teams complete a 70 km racecourse, consisting of a 60 km trail running and 10 km of open water swimming across 25 islands to crown the Ötillö Swimrun World Champions.
The essence of swimrun is racing in teams of two on a marked course in wild nature. The athletes alternate between trail running and open water swimming. To lose no time between these two disciplines, they run in their wetsuit and swim in their shoes.
History
In 2002 Anders Malm, one of the owners of Utö Värdshus (the finish line hotel of Ötillö, The Swimrun World Championship), his friend Janne Lindberg and some of his staff (the Andersson brothers) had a late night in the bar. Playing with a napkin with a map of the Stockholm archipelago, they challenged each other – "Last team of two to Sandhamn pays for hotel, dinner and drinks". Two teams of two started the next morning with the only rule being that they had to pass the three different restaurants on the islands between the start and the finish. The last team at the restaurant had to drink and pay what the team ahead of them had ordered for them. It took them more than 24 hours and they were too tired to party on arrival. We call them the Original 4.
This was the first recorded Swimrun in history. In 2006, the Swedish adventure racer duo Michael Lemmel and Mats Skott turned this bet into a commercial race called Ötillö, which is Swedish and means island to island. The first couple of years only 11 teams started and only two managed to finish within the time limits. From 2007 onward, the Ötillö race underwent several changes. Participants experimented with equipment like surfboards, snorkels, fins on shoes, and creatively crafted rocket tow floats, adding a playful twist to the sport. These innovations exemplified the pioneering spirit of the athletes.
By 2009, Ötillö attracted 50–60 teams, marking a solid foundation for the growing sport. In 2011, swimrun got its name from Erika Rosenbaum, one of Ötillö, The Swimrun World Championship podium finishers. The Ötillö Swimrun Engadin race in 2014 was the first Ötillö race outside of Sweden. It launched the international swimrun movement. Nowadays, there are hundreds of swimrun races across Europe, America, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. To further develop the sport, in 2023 Swimrun AG, owner of Ötillö, The Swimrun World Championship, and the Ötillö Swimrun World Series, acquired a majority stake in Swimrun USA Inc., a prominent organizer of Swimrun events in the United States, called Ödyssey. As part of the acquisition, all Ödyssey races will become part of the Ötillö Swimrun World Series by 2024.
Today From being a single endurance challenge in its early years, Ötillö has developed into a worldwide sport, the sport of swimrun. There are now more than 600 swimrun races around the world and an estimate of 50.000 active athletes involved in the swimrun movement. Today, Ötillö is internationally recognised as one of the toughest one-day races in the world. Every year, on the first Monday in September, 400 swimrunners start the Ötillö from Sandhamn to Utö.
Ötillö World Series
Due to the great interest, in 2015, the Ötillö Swimrun World Series was launched as a series of qualifier races for Ötillö, The Swimrun World Championship. The World Series consists of four events in Europe (Utö, Engadin, Gothenburg, Cannes) and five events in North America (Whistler, Casco Bay, Mackinac, Orcas Island and Austin). Swimrunner can collect Swimrun Ranking Points by finishing in the top 30 at the Ötillö Swimrun World Series races or selected Ötillö Merit Races. Based on the ranking results, the best swimrunners of the season can apply to take part in the Ötillö, The Swimrun World Championship.
Ötillö Race Distances An Ötillö Swimrun weekend comprises three different race formats. Athletes can chose to race solo or in teams of two.
World Series World Series races serve as qualifiers to Ötillö, The Swimrun World Championship. It is the longest and thoughest swimrun discipline. The race distance is around 40 km (33 km of trail running and 7 km of swimming).
Sprint Sprint races are a shorter version of the World Series. They are designed to be fun and challenging with a distance of around 15 km (11 km of trail running and 4 km of swimming).
Experience The Experience races are short and serve as an entry-level for swimrun beginners to get introduced to the sport. These races are about 8 km long (6.5 km of trail running and 1.5 km of swimming).
Ötillö Course The 70-kilometer ÖTILLO Swimrun World Championship course starts on the island of Sandhamn at Sandhamn Seglarhotell. On their way to the finish on Utö, the athletes will complete 24 trail running sections ranging from 0.2 to 17 kilometres and 23 swimming sections ranging from 50 to 1600 metres. They pass 24 islands, including Runmarö, Nämdö and Ornö.
Course record The course record of 7:00:59 h was set in 2022 by the team ARK Swimrun Hugo & Max with Hugo Tormento (FRA) and Max Andersson (SWE).
Ötillö Events Event Location Country EditionFirstNext Ötillö Swimrun Utö Utö, Sweden 2013 8 June 2024 Ötillö Swimrun Engadin Engadin 2014 29 June 2024 Ötillö Swimrun Whistler Whistler (British Columbia) 2024 7 July 2024Ötillö Swimrun GothenburgGothenburg20213 August 2024Ötillö Swimrun Casco BayCasco Bay201611 August 2024Ötillö Swimrun MackinacMackinac Island202125 August 2024Ötillö Swimrun Final 15KUtö, Sweden201631 August 2024Ötillö, The Swimrun World ChampionshipStockholm Archipelago20067 September 2026Ötillö Swimrun Orcas IslandOrcas Island201815 September 2024Ötillö Swimrun CannesCannes201812 October 2024Ötillö Swimrun Austin Austin (Texas)20203 November 2024
Ötillö Swimrun World Champions Winner-Teams of Ötillö Year Mixed Women Men2026 Anna Hellström Alexis Charrier7:58:09 h Johanne Laizeau Mélisande Muller9:06:47 h Hugo Tormento Adriel Young7:18:32 h2025 Hanna Skårbratt Johan Skårbratt8:03:39 h Sabina Rapelli Anna Hellström8:24:01 h (Course Record) Arnaud De Lustrac Jérome Gueguen7:13:05 h2024 Lorraine Axegård Fredrik Axegård08:31:04 h Sabina Rapelli Desirée Andersson8:47:00 h Alexis Charrier Matthieu Poullain7:56:03 h2023 Amanda Nilsson Adriel Young7:57:53 h Anna Hellström Desirée Andersson8:39:13 h Max Andersson Hugo Tormento7:32:13 h2022 Desirée Andersson Alexander Berggren7:49:54 h (Course Record) Helena Sivertsson Ulrika Eriksson Max Andersson Hugo Tormento7:00:59 h (Course Record)2021 Desirée Andersson Victor Dahl8:14:57 h Helena Sivertsson Kirstin Larsson9:00:47 h Oscar Olsson Adriel Young7:38:43 h2019 Charlotte Eriksson Simon Börjeson8:38:10 h Fanny Danckwardt Desirée Andersson9:05:29 h Pontus Lindberg George Bjälkemo7:47:48 h 2018 Helena Karásková Martin Flinta8:16:15 h Kristin Larsson Annika Ericsson8:56:26 h Fredrik Axegård Alex Flores7:39:25 h 2017 Eva NyströmEpic conditions at 2017 ÖTILLÖ World Championships (4. September 2017) Adriel Young9:01:31 h Kristin Larsson Annika Ericsson10:03:32 h Daniel Hansson Jesper Svensson7:58:06 h 2016 Eva Nyström Adriel Young8:49:58 h Kristin Larsson Annika Ericsson9:32:03 h Lelle Moberg Daniel Hansson7:59:04 h 2015 Marika Wagner Staffan Björklund8:55:39 h Annika Ericsson Maya Tesch10:30:36 h Björn Englund Paul Krochak8:29:11 h 2014 Ulrika Eriksson Jonas Udehn9:52:11 h Bibben Nordblom Charlotta Nilsson10:26:31 h Lelle Moberg Daniel Hansson8:16:12h 2013 Annika Ericsson Fredrik Selmerde10:33:48 h Bibben Nordblom Charlotta Nilsson10:54:59 h Björn Englund Paul Krochak8:35:00h 2012 Annika Åström Fredrik Åström11:16:36 h Helena Lindahl Linda Sernfalk13:47:42 h Magnus Olander Lennart Moberg9:11:58 h 2011 Åsa Annerstedt Joakim Axelsson11:10:18 h Annika Åström Karin Edvinsson12:28:01 h Björn Englund Antti Antonov9:07:24 h 2010 Rebecca Nordholm Johan Nyqvist11:32:29 h Åsa Annerstedt Annie Gustafsson11:15:42 h Jonas Colting Gordo Byrn9:09:15 h 2009 Ingrid Stengård Mikko Kolehmainen11:06:16 h Åsa Annerstedt Annie Gustafsson11:09:36 h Jonas Colting Martin Flinta8:53:05 h 2008 - - Jonas Colting Pasi Salonen10:14 h 2007 - - Martin Flinta Ted Ås- h 2006 - - Petri Forsman Ville Niemelä12:00 h
External links Homepage ÖTILLÖ Swimrun
References