I would say the opposite, in Europe anyway. I'm closely linked to the Rockman race in Norway, and also to some others including Otillo (via a friend of a friend) and athlete numbers are moving up, whereas in triathlon, and even some running races, they are moving down.

Seems a lot of people are taking on swimrun because the cost and time required to bike is becoming far too prohibitive.

Mostly impression. The races still sell out.

Event diversification isn't a bad thing. But it's also likely drawing from existing pools of athletes instead of bringing truly new people to the respective sports.

---

----------------------------------
Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

I’m not sure Odyssey is selling out, they’re the primary vendor in the states. But I think they’re doing ok adding (or at least trying to) races. I’ve got two on the calendar this year

Also new races popping up in Bend.

I think a slow burn is better than a huge flameout for long term viability. I agree that there probably are very few pure swimrunners and most are triathletes finally ditching their bikes

Otillo took a hit with the pandemic trying to get a foothold just a few miles away from my couch on Catalina. 2022 cancelled and looks like 2023 not happening as it’s still TBD 8 weeks out

Gosh I hope not. I have been thinking of swimrun racing for years. Currently I"m hoping to finally achieve a certain goal in Ironman this summer. And then I just want to focus on the 70.3 and other events such as swimrun. To me it looks incredibly appealing since I love open water swimming and running. I'm growing tired of the endless, unsolvable discomfort on my tri-bike after many pro fits. I'd love to ditch my tri-bike and focus on swimming and running. I have an Endless pool which feels like OWS. I can even swimrun train right out my back door with a pristine mountain pond a 2 mile run from my house. We even have an amazing reservoirs with islands where I think you could run through and jump back into the water for practice.

That all being said I wonder if the requirement to have a partner for most of the long races makes many athletes decide not to sign up, mostly because they can't find a partner or just prefer to be a solo athlete. For me it's both. I don't want a partner for a swimrun and couldn't find one where I live even if I wanted one. I'd also fear I would let someone down due to injury or just not going fast enough in the race. I'm just a lone wolf. I do understand the safety aspects of partners esp in the ocean swims.....but..... I still want to swim alone.

I'd like to sign up for an epic swimrun somewhere in 2024. A vacation race. Europe, New England, California, someplace awesome. I was always intrigued by the ones in the Casco Bay in Maine, USA.

---

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

Cycling is my first sport and I recently dropped more $ than I was comfortable with on a new tri-bike back in September 2022. Yet I love the idea of swimrun and love both sports much more than cycling nowadays. I love the purity of doing a sport w/o a ton of fancy, expensive equipment. Maybe it's just my older age but swimrun sounds so appealing. And I always did love trail running. Anything in the wilderness/wild seems so enticing to me.

---

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

I've stopped doing triathlon and moved exclusively to running and SwimRun. Way more fun, far better community, far better race production groups that you actually feel good giving money to.

On year four of SwimRun, it feels like COVID definitely had an impact in the US, but the scene is Europe, especially outside of Sweden is growing dramatically. Tons of people joining the sport in France and UK for example.

Casco is the most like Otillo and racing in Sweden you can find in the US.

Off the top of your head, are you seeing more races where you can race solo in these events that are not too short. I understand the safety aspect but wondering if there are more longer options for the "lone wolf" type athlete like myself.

---

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

Yes, Odyssey has a long course solo option now for Casco, which they have not had in the past. Otillo has solo races at most of their events as well I believe.

I would highly suggest trying to find a partner though. That's a big part of the sport and half the fun is racing with someone else.

Yeah I get it. It's the core of the sport. Tradition.

That being said I would stress over letting someone down even if I could find a partner. My husband is the opposite of me, a faster swimmer and slower runner. So even if he was still training, we wouldn't be compatible. But I do get it. Also glad there are now options for us solo athletes.

---

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

There are far less swimrun events in Sweden now compared to 2018/2019(more than 30% less looking at the race calendar and not just counting participation at official Ötillö-events) so while it might be on the rise in the rest of Europe it's declining in the biggest swimrun community in Europe. Triathlon is down a bit after the pandemic but not as much yet.

---

---

BA coaching http://www.bjornandersson.se

San Diego, probably one of the top venues to have this sport lost it's official 1-2 a year races. Last year though we held an underground one which was successful. So instead of waiting for someone to do something, gather people and start your own grassroots event/training day

Did Casco short course last year, signed up for long course this year. It's unbelievably beautiful and really well run. You are literally running through the islanders' back yards in some cases, and they are all out there cheering and supporting.

Sounds amazing. I would love running on the Islands.

How cold is the water? I just recently did Indian Wells 70.3 and managed 57F water, but in my thermal wetsuit gear. I guess since I live in Vermont I could get ready for the cold. Heck I could just turn off the heater on my Endless Pool. brrrrrr

---

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

Looks like my garmin did log a 57, but 57 and up I wore a fairly thin Roka swim run suit, shorty and no sleeves. The water is a little cold, but the swims are not all that long (at least short course). And it's in July, in Maine, so cold water feels good

I've swam at Lake Cahuilla (March, not Dec) and it does not feel like that at all

They do give out long sleeve shirts tho as the cumulative effect does start to add up

I bet it makes a difference being in the summer. The morning of Indian Wells, it was dark and felt cold. I think morning temps when we first got off the bus were in the mid 40sF. So the cold water didn't feel so nice. It was shockingly cold and I swim in our pond down the road in early-mid October with my thermal wetsuit. It's cold. Sometimes very cold where it stings your face but then you warm up just fine. Lake Cahuilla was crazy cold. Coldest I've ever felt swimming.

---

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

Seems like a very small universe anyway? These races don't look very big #s wise and there can't be that many of them?

Not trying to knock Swimrun.

Just have a feeling there's potentially a ST perception-overamplification to its actual size... due to attention and press it has received here.

It never appealed to me. I would rather do open water swim races, or master pool swim races, or open running races or triathlon. The combo, running with a wetsuit, swimming in running shoes with a buoy and paddle, just seemed way weird to me (as if triathlon is not already weird given how we look on open roads on TT bikes, skin suits and aero helmets). But the entire running with a buoy/wetsuit/paddles/with goggles on head too Aquaman to new heights :-). All kidding aside, I can see doing it as an one off adventure, but that would be about my level of interest. I can get excited about a masters swim meet, tri or open running race every weekend

You would actually excel at it since you are a strong swimming and runner. But I get the whole gear thing. There is some figuring out with the partial wetsuit, a different pull buoy, maybe different paddles, and trail running shoes that you swim in and won't cause terrible blisters when back on land for running. I'm sure there is a bit of a learning curve with the quicker transitions in and out of the water. For me it's having a partner that was preventing me from signing up in the past but seems there are now more options for solo athletes who want to go farther.

My neighbors already think I'm a bit of a weirdo with my various sports. Practicing around the neighborhood in the new swimrun gear would be amusing for them. My 80 yr old neighbors who let me swim train off their private property would certainly be entertained watching me come out of the water with the gear and running shoes and continuing onwards into the woods on their trails.

---

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

When I go somewhere warm on the beach, I will do my own swim run.....do 10 min in the water, get out run on the beach barefoot and if there is a hill out of the beach, run hills for 10 min, then dive back in and swim....repeat for 90 minutes, but the entire personal swim-run is in jammers, bare feet and googles only!!!

Nice! sounds good to me

The first summer we were in our new home here, I enjoyed doing a runswimrun. I'd run down to the mountain pond from our house (really great for OWS) which was just 2 miles. I'd have a swimsuit under my running shorts and running shirt. I'd carry my cap and goggles in one hand. Swim (usually short when running). Then throw my running clothes back over my swimsuit, put my socks and running shoes back on and run back home. I didn't bother with a towel and being a bit wet made the run back home cooler as it was mostly uphill. I used to love doing that. Now I mtn bike down there and back to swim most of the time. That is fun too.

---

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

So, I don't know you or your times... but, I really think it's likely y'all could do just fine as a team. You don't have to have the same swimming/running pace to be a team. You can strategize around each other's strengths and weaknesses.

You are a faster runner and he is a faster swimmer - that could just means he pushes the runs harder and leads the swims while also using it as a bit of recovery. You run at a more relaxed pace and push the swims harder than you normally would. Etc. There's a lot of strategy that you could work out and that's part of what makes the partner aspect so fun IMO.

I did Uto a few years ago with my husband and we loved it. Since then he does several races a year and often without a partner. These are races in Germany where SwimRun appears to still be quite popular

Maybe Herbert can chime in here and give some color, I see that the founders of Otillo series Michael and Mats have stepped down. An old competitor from the beginning has taken over, Steffan Bjorkland who won the first series in 2015. Seems like a really big change in management, and sounds like the other two are stepping away?

Anyway thought this might track with the OP here, but maybe nothing to see other than new management and the original owners just moving on..