MAXIME PICAUT & WILLIAM EVEN RETURN TO ÖTILLÖ SWIMRUN CANNES
MAXIME & WILLIAM – 2ND AT WORLDs COME BACK FOR THE CHASE
Back in 2015, Maxime Picaut teamed up with a friend for the first edition of the Troll Enez Swimrun in Brittany (now an ÖTILLÖ Merit race), a 50 km island-to-island race with 41.6 km trail running and 8.9 km swimming in the Gulf of Morbihan. “We won. It was a discovery of oneself through an extraordinary sport,” says Max.
His first swimrun with William Even was the 2021 Dinard Côte d’Emeraude Swimrun Long Duo – 22.5 km running and 5.4 km swimming. They met in June through mutual friends and raced together three months later. “We won and a harmony between us was born.”
FORMER SWIMMERS
As both Max and Will come from swimming backgrounds, they quickly earned the name Team Shark. “We complement each other very well. Max brings calmness and effort management, while I bring passion and speed,” says 26-year-old Will, who is a lifeguard.
They duo hail from Brittany in the north of France, Will from Côtes-d’Armor and Max lives in Ille-et-Vilaine. During the winters they train separately but in April and May they try to train once a month together.
2nd AT ÖTILLÖ WORLD SERIES CANNES 2021
In 2021, they finished second at ÖTILLÖ World Series Cannes and they will return to race on October 15. As Max, a 34-year-old firefighter, recalls, “When we came second in Cannes last year it was such a relief to know we had qualified for ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship and so satisfying to have had a good race together with Will. The course is atypical with a rather wild first part and then the urban side of Cannes, which is also interesting and has its charm.”
2nd AT ÖTILLÖ, THE SWIMRUN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2022
At ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championships on September 5th, Team Shark finished second with a time of 7:42:47, following their countryman Hugo Tormento who smashed the course record with his Swedish teammate, Max Andersson, with a time of 7:00:59.
Will shares, “Going to ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship was already a dream come true but then to give the best of ourselves and to have a very good race was even better. We were hoping for the top five and secretly to get on the podium.”
“It was an extraordinary trip,” Max describes. “We acclimatised at my brother’s place in Gothenburg for four days where we were able to get our bearings and rest as much as possible. We trained very hard this year to be good and ready on D-Day. There were inevitably ups and downs and debates but we were each able to take over at the right time. It was an honour to run such a race, and we were so impressed by the scenery and calibre of athletes. The level of swimrun is rising, the proof is in a new world record of seven hours.”
MANY FRENCH AT THE TOP
And the French are driving that high level of competition. At ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship 2022, in addition to Tormento’s first place, four French teams finished in the Men’s Top 10. Aline Tavernier and Julia Moustakir came third in the Women’s division and Alexis Charrier placed third on the Mixed podium with his Swiss girlfriend Sabina Rapelli (they came ninth overall).
“There is a lot of enthusiasm in France for swimrun,” Will says. “This is the first year that the French triathlon federation has officially formed a swimrun team. We hope to be part of that this or next year.”