Welcome to episode 170 of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!

In this episode we are sharing a course preview of Swimrun Portugal’s Tâmega Swimrun. This event offers three distance options including an ÖTILLÖ Merit Race distance, which is new for 2023, plus some events for kids. We’ve been a fan of Swimrun Portugal Series since episode 35 where we interviewed series director Bruno Safara and his events have been on our list since we learned about them. For this course preview we get help from local race director Sergio Moreira who shares with us all the details for this amazing event. 

History of the Tâmega Swinrun

The first edition took place in 2021 and it is a wild story of getting final approval for hosting the event two weeks before it was set to take place. As they say the rest was history. In 2023, the race was granted Merit Race status and Michael and Mats were instrumental in bringing the first merit race to Portugal.

Getting to the Tâmega Swimrun

The race takes place in the Rio de Moinhos region of Portugal and is about 50km east of Porto. Porto is the closest airport to the race and there are a lot of major airlines that fly to that airport. Fun fact: according to google maps it only takes 10 hours to walk to Rio de Moinhos from Porto. 

Once in the Rio de Moinhos region, there are restaurants, vineyards and lots of activities for the whole family.

The Race

As we mentioned at the start of the show, this event offers three distance options: a 16.4km Individual Sprint course, a 30.4km “Standard” course, and 42.4km “Marathon” course. The Marathon course is an ÖTILLÖ Merit Race.

All three courses are point-to-point style and center around the Tâmega River. This is a challenging landscape with lots of hills.

Our Thoughts

First of all, a huge thank you to Sergio for helping us put this course preview together. His energy and love for Swimrun is infectious and everything about this event speaks to his desire to put on the best race he can.

This event features what is best about Swimrun: the ability to explore a new region while moving seamlessly through nature. This race was already on our bucket list but it has definitely moved up. Registration is open now for this year’s event.

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 questions, 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