Episode Details

Welcome to episode 138 of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!

On this week’s show we welcome endurance legend Gordo Byrn. Gordo is a coach, stud endurance athlete and happens to be the only American to ever win ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship. He won the event in 2010 with partner, and fellow endurance legend, Jonas Colting, and we go into all the details of their epic day on the Archipelago. 

But first...

Training Update

We just finished our last big week of training with some major pool swims, 4-hour Swimruns, and lots of trail running. With ÖTILLÖ just 11 days away as of this episode’s release, we are feeling pretty good about stuff and are as ready as we’re going to get. 

Shoutouts

This week we are shouting out to all the teams racing the One Water Race. More on this race later in the show but rest assured that everyone who lined up at the start is more than worthy of a shoutout.

Feats of Endurance

This week’s Feats of Endurance winner is Aaron Morrison who posted a surprisingly not-chilly Swimrun practice from Juneau Alaska over the weekend. Thanks for proving that if there’s a place to swim and a place to go running nearby, Swimrunning is possible!

Make sure to sign up for our LTBz Strava Club and join Swimrunners from around the world as they train for stuff.

This Week in Swimrun

We’ve got a big update for everyone this week.

In Norway, the epic Rockman Swimrun took place. This race looked as amazing as ever with some incredible photos that you can check out on their fb page. We asked Race Director, Thor Hesselberg, to share his race director report with us so enjoy this latest installment of Race Director Reports.

We also have some exclusive reporting to share about Rockman. In 2023, the race will introduce an Experience distance to go along with their ÖTILLÖ merit race distance.

In France, the also epic Swimrunman Laffrey (the race with the wild vertical kilometer to finish the world series distance race) and it looked like a perfect day for a super hard Swimrun. We love this race for a lot of reasons but especially because the event offers distances for all ability/desire levels from a ÖTILLÖ merit race distance all the way to a kids Swimrun. 

In Sweden, there were some fun local Swimrun events that took place including the Skatås Sjöar Swimrun and the Immeln Swimrun. It’s so great to see these local events and it reminds us that these types of events is how the sport grows so make sure to support your local events by either signing up or volunteering.

By the time this show is released, teams will have finished, or will be close to having finished, the inaugural One Water Race. This event is easily the toughest/longest Swimrun event on the planet with a total distance of 250 kms and 50 kms of that being swimming! We promise to have a lot more coverage about the event and teams participating in the next few weeks once we are back from Sweden. In the meantime, check out our interview with co-founder and race director, Thomas Ogander, on Episode 104 of the podcast.

Here in the states, Ödyssey Swimrun Mackinac Island is happening this coming Sunday, Aug