October 6th, 2025
ÖTILLÖ SWIMRUN Cannes 2025
Cannes delivers fantastic season finale
Press Release
| French Dominance in Mens and Mixed categories and Swedish serial winners defend their title |
| The French Riviera presented itself once again at its absolute best for this year’s ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Cannes, the final event of the European ÖTILLÖ season. Very warm and sunny weather and the biggest World Series field in this year’s ÖTILLÖ season with close to 250 athletes, many of them part of the elite of the sport. The weather conditions were calm and dry with air temperatures up to 27 degrees and a water temperature of around 22 degrees. The race course was very challenging and took the athletes on a grand tour through and around the beautiful City of Cannes. They had to complete a total race distance of 41 km with 33 km of partly very technical trail running and 8 km of swimming, split into 11 running and 11 swim sections. The start field featured many of the top athletes in the sport of swimrun, among them the 2025 Mens World Champions Arnaud de Lustrac and Jérôme Gueguen, starting with different partners this time, as well as World Championship podium finishers Rémi Andrade, Tom Ralite, David Pesquet and Pernilla Irewährn, besides all time greats Kristin Larsson and Helena Sivertsson, who hold four and two World Championship titles respectively. in the mens category, Arnaud de Lustrac, starting with his brother Pierre for the first time, kept a controlled pace from the start before attacking on the long swim back to mainland Cannes, which earned them a three minute lead, which they extended all the way to the finish line. Behind them a fierce battle evolved between the teams of Rémi Andrade & David Pesquet and Alexandre Dumoulin & Raphaël Julio. Rémi Andrade and David Pesquet were stronger on the runs and eventually managed to finish in second place with Alexandre Dumoulin & Raphaël Julio in third, completing an all French podium in the mens category. Statement Arnaud de Lustrac: “It was a very good race. First time together with my brother, I hope not the last time. The conditions were amazing and the race course in Cannes is always wonderful. It is my third time here and every time I loved it.” Statement Pierre de Lustrac: “First time racing with my brother was also a special experience for me. Last year I was here racing in the mixed and this year in the mens category with a very very strong brother so it was really nice, we had some very fast swims and it was a bit harder for me on the runs but the course is as always very very nice.” In the mixed category, last year’s winners Thomas Deffain and Johanne Laizeau were off to a fast start, keeping up with the leading men until the group reached Cap Croisette, 17 km into the race. They had an excellent day and managed to defend their title from last year in an overall time of 4:28:24. They were chased by two other French teams, World Champion Jérome Gueguen & Céline Sénia and Florian Schäfer & Lydie Waucquier, who finished second and third respectively, all within 6 minutes. Another all French podium showed the current dominance of the French athletes in the sport of Swimrun. Statement Thomas Deffains: “The race went perfectly for us and according to our plan: we started very fast in the beginning and we enjoyed a little bit the race with the first mens teams so that was perfect for us. We managed to open a gap to the following teams and kept that until the end. The conditions were perfect and it was just awesome today.” Statement Johanne Laizeau: “Thomas was so strong today throughout the entire race it was a lot of fun for me to race with him. It is a real pleasure to win again together.” In the women’s category, Kristin Larsson and Helena Sivertsson from Sweden dominated the race from the start and won in an overall time of 5 hours and 54 seconds,, 27 minutes ahead of the French team of Joséphine Rieg and Louise Bertherat-Dentone and Pernilla Irewährn and Marina Andersson from Sweden. Statement Kristin Larsson: “The course here is pretty tough. It is a lot of flat fast running in the beginning and then you go up those hills and have long swims and really a bit of everything. We like to come here, it is sunny and it is warm in the water and that is something we don’t have in Sweden at the moment.” After a very tight race in the mens solo category, Emeryc Gennesson (FRA) wins, just over one minute ahead of Sascha Vetter from Germany and Boris Chenal from France. All three finished within five minutes of each other. Lena Glaser from Sweden wins the Solo Women’s category with a very strong race ahead of Anna Mattsson from Sweden and Caroline Roussel from France. Race Results ÖTILLÖ Cannes World Series results: MEN 1. Arnaud de Lustrac FRA & Pierre de Lustrac FRA 4:12:48 2. David Pesquet FRA & Rémi Andrade FRA 4:15:07 3. Raphaël Julio FRA & Alexandre Dumoulin FRA 4:21:35 MIXED 1. Laizeau Johanne FRA & Thomas Deffains FRA – 4:28:24 2. Jérome Gueguen FRA & Céline Sénia FRA – 4:31:47 3. Florian Schäfer FRA & Lydie Waucquier FRA – 4:34:18 WOMEN 1. Kristin Larsson SWE & Helena Sivertsson SWE – 5:00:54 2. Joséphine Rieg FRA & Louise Bertherat-Dentone FRA – 5:27:46 3. Marina Andersson SWE & Pernilla Irewährn SWE – 5:33:11 SOLO MEN 1. Emeryc Gennesson FRA – 4:29:06 2. Sascha Vetter GER – 4:30:21 3. Boris Chenal FRA – 4:34:33 SOLO WOMEN 1. Lena Glaser SWE – 6:15:55 2. Anna Mattsson SWE – 6:28:05 3. Caroline Roussel FRA – 6:29:59 Another 400 athletes raced in the shorter distance ÖTILLÖ Sprint and ÖTILLÖ Experience races, completing a beautiful day of Swimrun at the Côte d’Azur. Find the official race results here. Photos for free media use Find official press photos here (please credit photographer/ ÖTILLÖ) Flickr Album: On course images: ÖTILLÖ Cannes 2025 Finish line images: ÖTILLÖ Cannes 2025 About ÖTILLÖ and Swimrun Swimrun is an endurance sports where you alternate trail-running and open-water swimming on a marked course. ÖTILLÖ is the leading brand and the origin of the sport. ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship (ÖTILLÖ meaning island to island in Swedish) is the original swimrun race, renowned as one of the toughest one-day races in the world. https://otilloswimrun.com About ÖTILLÖ and Swimrun ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series ÖTILLÖ World Series Cannes is part of the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series and a qualifier to ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship, held on September 1st in the Swedish archipelago. In 2025, there are thirteen qualifying races to the World Championship: – ÖTILLÖ World Series Catalina, USA, 27 April – ÖTILLÖ World Series Utö, Sweden, 7 June – ÖTILLÖ World Series Engadin, Switzerland, 5 July – ÖTILLÖ World Series Whistler, Canada, 6 July – ÖTILLÖ World Series Gothenburg, Sweden, 26 July – ÖTILLÖ World Series Åland, 9-10 August – ÖTILLÖ World Series Casco Bay, USA, 10 August -ÖTILLÖ World Series Mackinac Island, USA, 24 August -ÖTILLÖ World Series Rügen, Germany, 13 September – ÖTILLÖ World Series Orcas Island, USA, 14 September – ÖTILLÖ World Series Cannes, France, 4 October -ÖTILLÖ World Series Colorado, USA, 5 October – ÖTILLÖ World Series Austin, USA, 9 November At each World Series event an EXPERIENCE & SPRINT race is also organized. ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship 19th edition on September 1st, 2025 150 teams from all over the world 70 km over and between 24 islands in the Stockholm Archipelago. Renowned as one of the toughest one-day races in the world Social Media You will find updates in our social media channels over the weekend. Please use #otillocannes, #otillo and tag @otillorace when making posts. |