Swimrun

A swimrun is a multiple-stage competition involving where participants are running and swimming over a cross-country race-course that involves many transitions between the swim- and run stages of the race.

History

Swimrun was started by Utö hotel owner Anders Malm and two brothers in his staff in 2002 with the idea of challenging each other in the Stockholm archipelago where the participants were going to finish the course of getting themselves from Sandhamn to Utö. In 2006 this idea was launched as an official competition called Ö till ö (Island to island).^[1]

Today Ö till ö, the original race, has been considered by some as one of the toughest endurance races in the world,^[2] and is now considered the world championship in swimrun. To enter the Ö till ö competition, one has to qualify, similar to Ironman Hawaii World championship in ironman triathlon. In Sweden, swimrun has become a new type of endurance competition that has gathered considerable support from its growing endurance sport and triathlon community and several annual races have been started across Sweden. The international focus has been growing in the last years, and in 2015 there were eight swimrun competitions outside of Sweden.^[3] The first swimrun race done in warm water is Aquaticrunner ® XTriM ITALY and it started in 2014. The biggest different with the Nordic races are Individual race (no team) and in this race is permitted to use only the pull buoy (no fins, snorkel, ecc…). This race as done in a surrounding of sea and islands, areas protected by wwf. The competition is open only with titles and it isn't open at all the athletes (ironman, 70.3 long swim and marathon race, ecc...). The swimming fraction in total is about 4 km, while the running fraction is 19 km.^[4]

Swimrun characteristics

What defines a swimrun is that its always carried out outdoors and in open water where your goal is to go from a starting point to a finish point through a course with several checkpoints. It has several stages, which means you have to change discipline between running and swimming multiple times. All the equipment that a participant starts with, the participant has to carry to the finish line. Even though swimrun allows and urges participants to use flotation equipment, equipment larger than 100×60 cm is not allowed.^[5]

Because of safety measures a swimrun competition is usually carried out by teams. There are three classes to compete in; either a men`s class, women`s class or a mixed gender class.

Given that swimrun is a cross-country race, there are no standardization yet in terms of how far the total run and swim should be, or how many transitions there should be in a swimrun competition, like there is in sports related to swimrun such as aquathlon, biathle or triathlon.

Distance

The race distance of an event SwimRun is expressed in the form xk / yk / z.

x are the total kilometers swimming,

y are the total kilometers running,

z the number of fractions of the race overall.

The races

Year	Races	Nations	Finisher	Events
2016	97	17	*	Sweden Borensberg Swimrun, Sjö till Sjö, Utö (ôtillö qualifier), Anglaloppet, Stockholm swimrun, Borĺs Swimrun, 50´turen 2 Sjöer, Infinity Swimrun 3h, Horfors Swimrun, Kustjageren, Vansbro, Hřga Kusten (ötillö-qualifier), Ĺrnes Swimrun, Kalmar Swimrun, Ĺstol Aquathlon, 2XU Island Challenge, Tylösand Aquathlon, Amfibiemannen, Wet rock race, Farleden Swimrun, LED swimrun, Nordslingan Swimrun, Sjö till Sjö, Ôloppet Swimrun, Skärgĺrdsutmaningen Swimrun, Karlstad Swimrun, Stockholm archipelage ultraswimrun challenge, Karlskrona Swimrun, Marstrand Swimrun, Stora Stöten Swimrun, Idre Swimrun, Anglaloppet Swimrun, Moose2Goose Swimrun, 10 Island Race, Sigge tuna Swimrun, ÖtillÖ® Swimrun World Championship, Arlanda Swimrun, Tjolöholm Swimrun, Koster Swimrun, Lilla Astol Swimrun, Langholmen Swimrun, Sollentuna Swimrun, Snapphanen, GBG Swimrun, Hellas frostbite  Italy Amphibianman® (Aquaticrunner qualifier), Conero Swimrun (Aquaticrunner qualifier), Elba Swimrun (Aquaticrunner qualifier), Idro Swimrun (Aquaticrunner qualifier), Swimrun Venice (Aquaticrunner qualifier), Lake Varano Swimrun (Aquaticrunner qualifier), Bologna Swimrun (Aquaticrunner qualifier), 3° Aquaticrunner® ITALY XTriM Border Lagoon   Switzerland Engadin (ötillö-qualifier)  Norway Rockman, XTERRA Swimrun Norway, XTERRA Oslofjorden sprint swimrun  Germany Paddle to the Medal, Rheinsberg, Allgaeu Swimrun, 1000 Lakes Swimrun (ötillö qualifier)  England Breca Buttermere, Isle of Scilly (ötillö-qualifier), Love Swimrun Ilamberis, The Broards Swimrun, Snowdonia Lyn I Lyn  Scotland Loch Lomond Inch by Inch Swimrun, Hell´s Hop, Loch gu loch  Ireland Breca Arranmore  Denmark XTERRA Swimrun Denmark, Urban Swimrun (swimrun cup Denmark), Beach Swimrun (swimrun cup Denmark), Bornholm Swimrun, Lake Swimrun (swimrun cup Denmark), DGI Swimrun Rřdekro  Belgium Amphimann, Amphiman De Schorre  Finland Midnightsun Swimrun, Porkkala Swimrun, Solvalla Swimrun (ötillö-qualifier)  Russia Lake-to-Lake  France Saint quentin Swimrun, Emeraude Swimrun  United States Mission Bay Swimrun  Spain Costa Brava Swimrun  Canada Mushoka´s Epic Swimrun  Armenia Sevan Lake Swimrun  Ireland Breca Árainn Mhóre Swimrun, Galway Bay Swimrun * Gare ancora in fase di svolgimento
2015	53	12 (counting England and Scotland as different countries, otherwise 11 nations)	6241	Sweden Ö till Ö,[6] 4th Lake Swimrun*,[7] 10 Island Swimrun,[8] Amfibiemannen ,[9] Ångaloppet ,[10] Ångaloppet Sprint, Arlanda Aquathlon,[11] Årnäs Swimrun,[12] Borås Swimrun ,[13] Borås Swimrun Sprint, Borensberg Swimrun,[14] Hofors Swimrun ,[15] Höga Kusten Swimrun,[16] Idre Swimrun,[17] Karlstad Swimrun,[18] Koster Swimrun,[19] Kustjagaren,[20] Långholmen Swimrun,[21] Loftahammar Endurance Day,[22] Lyckans Swimrun,[23] Marstrand Open Water,[24] Marstrand Open Water Sprint, Nordslingan,[25] Öloppet,[26] Öloppet Sprint, Sigge Tuna Swimrun,[27] Sjö till Sjö Växjö,[28] Sjö till Sjö Sala,[29] Skärgårdsutmaningen,[30] Skärgårdsutmaningen Sprint, Stockholm Swimrun,[31] Snapphanen Swimrun,[32] Solvalla Swimrun*,[33] Stora Stöten Swimrun,[34] Utö Swimrun,[35] Vansbro Swimrun,[36] WetRockRace[37]  Italy 2° Amphibianman® Swimrun[38] 2° Aquaticrunner® XTriM® Swimrun,[39] 1° Tinatura Anfibia Swimrun,[40]   Switzerland Engadin Swimrun[41]  Norway XTERRA Swimrun,[42] Rockman Swimrun[43]  Germany Paddle to the Meda  England Breca Swimrun[44] Wales Snowdonia Swimrun[45]  Scotland Loch Lomond Swimrun,[46] Loch Gu Loch Swimrun[47]  Denmark XTERRA Swimrun Denmark[48]  Belgium Amphiman,[49] Amphiman Sprint  Finland Porkkala Swimrun[50]  Russia Lake-to-Lake Russia[51]  France Émeraude Swimrun,[52] Swimrun Saint-Quentin,[53] Troll Enez Morbihan [54] * Gare ancora in fase di svolgimento
2014	20	4	3464	Sweden Ö till Ö, 10 Island Swimrun, Amfibiemannen, Ångaloppet, Ångaloppet Sprint, Arlanda Aquathlon, Borås Swimrun, Karlstad Swimrun, Kustjagaren Karlskrona, Loftahammar Endurance Day, Öloppet, Öloppet Sprint, Utö Swimrun, Skärgårdsutmaningen, Skärgårdsutmaningen Sprint, Solvalla Swimrun, Stockholm Swimrun  Italy 1° Amphibianman® Swimrun[55] 1° Aquaticrunner® XTriM® Swimrun,[56]   Switzerland Engadin Swimrun  Norway XTERRA Swimrun
2013	10	1	1948	Sweden Ö till Ö, Arlanda Aquathlon, Amfibiemannen, Ångaloppet, Ångaloppet Sprint, Kustjagaren Karlskrona, Öloppet, Öloppet Sprint, Utö Swimrun, WetRockRace
2012	5	1	900	Sweden Ö till Ö, Amfibiemannen, Ångaloppet, Öloppet, WetRockRace
2011	3	1	196	Sweden Ö till Ö, Ångaloppet, WetRockRace
2010	1	1	16	Sweden Ö till Ö
2009	1	1	51 teams	Sweden Ö till Ö
2008	1	1	6	Sweden Ö till Ö
2007	1	1	4	Sweden Ö till Ö
2006	1	1	4	Sweden Ö till Ö

References