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July 29th, 2024

ÖTILLÖ SWIMRUN Whistler 2024

ÖTILLÖ Whistler Makes Exciting Debut

ÖTILLÖ Whistler Makes Exciting Debut

ÖTILLÖ WORLD SERIES WHISTLER – JULY 7TH

The inaugural ÖTILLÖ Whistler, held in one of British Columbia’s premier resort communities, was met with warm temps and even warmer accolades. Race day hit 34 Celcius/93 Fahrenheit, making for a challenging day for athletes, who managed cold, glacier-fed lake swims with increasingly hot run legs as the morning went on.

Participants came from all over Canada, the US and as far away as Tahiti to experience ÖTILLÖ’s first foray into Canada. Solo athletes and teams of two could choose between the “Experience” (approximately 565 meters of swimming and 9.8 km of running), the Sprint (3,187 meters of swimming and 20 km of running), and the “World Series” (approximately 4,711 meters of swimming and 38.5 km of running).

Thomas Lubin and Cedric Wane won the World Series team division, conquering 4.7 kilometres in the water and 38.5 kilometres on land in four hours, 28 minutes and 23.86 seconds. The Tahiti residents adapted well to glacial water despite being accustomed to the tropical seas of French Polynesia.

It’s a stunning course,” said Lubin after the race. “We were flabbergasted—that’s a new word for us.”

The pair is heading to the ÖTILLÖ World Championship in Sweden this fall, and noted that Whistler was a training race for them.

Runner-up honours went to Marcus Barton and Kawika Tarayao (4:42:22.43), and the mixed-gender duo of Bronwen Price-Dierksen and Gregory Dierksen clocked in for third (4:44:46.14).

Kayla Kobelin was one of three people to break the five-hour mark as a solo World Series athlete. Her time of 4:59:53 was fast enough for third, behind fellow Bend, Ore. native Chris Wright in first (4:27:53) and second-place’s Adrian Cameron of Bee Cave, Texas (4:32:51).

In the Sprint division, which involved just under 3.2 kilometres of swimming and 20 kilometres of running, a mixed-gender team of Jen Anderson and Simone Franzini put themselves on top (2:24:01). Amanda Staloch and Kylee Timso, both women came second overall (2:37:06), just in front of third-place competitors Dawson and Kenton Kosiek (2:39:45).

Michael Pritchard (2:12:48) and David Terlicher (2:12:49) took the Sprint individual division, with Bellingham, Wash.’s Pritchard just overcoming his rival from New Westminster, B.C. Tommy Adams rounded out the podium on behalf of Winchester, Ky. (2:19:51).

Whistler’s hilly terrain and chilly lakes made for a challenging day, to say the least. But on a particularly hot summer day, most athletes said the swim portion of the race—which took place in Lost, Alta, Nita, Alpha, and Green Lakes—refreshing.

When you lift your head to breathe (in the swim) and look at those mountains, wow, you get chills and it has nothing to do with the water temperature,” said Mike Pritchard, winner of the men’s solo Sprint race. “I hope this venue continues,” he added.

Local race director Dale Tiessen said after the event: “I am personally new to swimrun, but my understanding is that it’s attractive to women and mixed teams because it’s adventure-style racing, not just timing and distance. I was super excited to see basically gender parity across the event.”
RACE RESULTS

MEN

1. Cedric Wane & Thomas Lubin  / TAHITIAN MAKO TEAM – 4:28:23
2. Kawika Tarayao & Marcus Barton / Team Envol Spam Fika – 4:42:03
3. Jonas Andersson & Staffan Björklund / NIAR Adventure Team – 4:47:16

MIXED
1. Gregory Dierksen & Bronwen Price-Dierksen / Boston Wet Sox – 4:44:46
2. Jacob Gilden & Liz Gilden / BatmansParents – 5:23:44
3. Mike Schiepke & Liza Dunham / Cali-Coed – 6:40:52

WOMEN
1. Mara Tynan & Megan Manning / Cali & CO – 5:30:55
2. Mary Bozeman & Sarah Melberg / Ziggy Barracudas – 6:24:40
3. Karen Natho & Lorraine Natho / Twisted Sisters – 6:33:21

SOLO MEN
1. Chris Wright – 4:27:53
2. Adrian Cameron – 4:32:51
3. Tom Fancsy – 5:35:16

SOLO WOMEN

1. Kayla Kobelin – 4:59:53
2. Jenny Kraus – 5:47:57
3. Meghan Robinson – 6:02:05

Find the official race results here.
RACE IMAGES
Official images here. (please credit photographer / ÖTILLÖ)
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.
ÖTILLÖ SWIMRUN WORLD SERIES

ÖTILLÖ World Series Whistler is part of the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series and a qualifier to ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship in the Swedish archipelago.

In 2024, there are the following qualifying races to ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship 2025:
– ÖTILLÖ® World Series Utö, Sweden, 08 June
– ÖTILLÖ® World Series Engadin, Switzerland, 29 June
– ÖTILLÖ® World Series Whistler, Canada, 07 July
– ÖTILLÖ® World Series Gothenburg, Sweden, 03 August
– ÖTILLÖ® World Series Casco Bay, USA, 11 August
– ÖTILLÖ® World Series Mackinac, USA, 25 August
– ÖTILLÖ® World Series Orcas Island, USA, 15 September 
– ÖTILLÖ® World Series Cannes, France, 14 October
– ÖTILLÖ® World Series Austin, USA, 03 Novmeber
At each World Series event an EXPERIENCE & SPRINT race is also organized.
ÖTILLÖ, THE SWIMRUN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
– 18th edition on September 2nd, 2024
– 160 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