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

We’re honored to have Michael Lemmel, Co-Founder of ÖTILLÖ on the show this week. We had a great conversation that covered a lot of ground where we looked back over the 15 year history of the race that started it all (ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship) and looked forward to what the future holds for ÖTILLÖ and Swimrun.

But first... 

Training Update

The training block has begun for Ödyssey Swimrun’s Orcas Island. Running hills will be a staple of this block and luckily, there is no shortage of mountains for us to run up and down. We ran the “Ninja Loop” on Saturday (a local trail runner favorite) and we will probably be hitting that loop multiple times before race day.

Shoutout

This week we’re shouting out Caroline Wolek and Patrick Reagan. They recently won the Ödyssey Legend Award as voted by the race participants at Casco Bay a few weeks back. This award shines a spotlight on athletes who embody the spirit of Swimrun: putting others above self, spreading positive energy to other racers, and taking action when faced with adversity. Caroline and Patrick are well-deserving of this recognition by their fellow Swimrunners. Congratulations! 

Feats of Endurance

This week’s award goes to Nate Budziak. Nate ran the Waldo 100k over the weekend and totally crushed the 61ish mile (with 11,000’ of elevation gain) trail race finishing in 16th place overall. Awesome performance!

Check out and join our Strava Club and join Swimrunners from around the world as they train for Swimruns and stuff.

This Week in Swimrun

Lots of updates this week so let’s get right to it!

It’s race week for Ödyssey Swimrun Mackinac Island! Make sure to sign up if you haven’t already (using the code LOWTIDE15 to save 15% on your registration) and follow our Instagram channel where our two LTBz Field Correspondents (Trista and Amy from Team Adorkable) will be “covering” the event.

The Zêzere Swimrun hosted by our friends at Swimrun Portugal is just a few weeks away. This race is taking place on September 5th and offers two distance options. If you’re in need of a Swimrun holiday, then check out this race!

We’re also just a few weeks away from the Breca Swimrun Jersey. Taking place on September 4th, this race is also the UK National Swimrun Championship. We’ve talked about this race before and it’s 100% on the bucket list!

Over in Sweden, the Immeln Swimrun put on by A to Be Events took place over the weekend. The race looked awesome and we were stoked to see that the Ultra distance (that we talked about about a month ago) ended up getting enough participants for it to happen.

The 10 Island Swimrun also took place over the weekend. What this 20km race in Gothenburg lacks in a creative name, it definitely makes up for it with a super hard but also super fun course. Definitely check out their Instagram page for some great race photos.

That’s it for this week. Reach out to us with any news that you’d like for us to share on the show.

Michael Lemmel Interview

This week’s guest doesn’t need an introduction for anyone who is familiar with Swimrun...but we’ll give one anyway. Michael is the co-founder of ÖTILLÖ and is one of the most important figures in the sport. His (and the entire team at ÖTILLÖ) approach to adventure racing, race directing, protecting nature, and building community has helped to build the global Swimrun movement. We covered a lot of ground in this interview recorded on the eve of the 15th edition of The Swimrun World Championship and we discussed the past, present, and future of Swimrun. 

You can learn more about ÖTILLÖ on their website.

That’s it for this week’s show. If you are enjoying the Löw Tide Böyz, be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player and leave us a five-star review. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, and on YouTube. You can also follow our meme page on Instagram. Email us at [email protected] with any feedback and/or suggestions. Finally, you can support our efforts on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.

Thanks for listening and see you out there!

-  Chip and Chris