I’m too lazy to look this up for past info: Just wondering why Otillo races allow pull buoys and paddles for the swim? Why is the swim portion not as “pure” as the running part (however, I realize they are running in wetsuits while carrying the paddles and buoy, so that can’t be all that comfortable!)
I have been thinking about this as well. What is with all the snowflakes that get to use pullbuoys and paddles.
obviously because you cant really kick with your running shoes on
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Since you swim with your shoes and really need your legs for all the hard running sections, thus pull buoys and paddles are allowed. But you do not have to wear them. But whatever you choose to take you have to carry the whole distance.
And how “pure” in your view is running in a wetsuit? 
It is also interesting that so many triathletes who race on aero TT bike with depp section wheels, aero helmets, bento boxes, BTA cages and compression socks complain about the “gadgets” during the SwimRun races.
Since you swim with your shoes and really need your legs for all the hard running sections, thus pull buoys and paddles are allowed. But you do not have to wear them. But whatever you choose to take you have to carry the whole distance.
And how “pure” in your view is running in a wetsuit?
It is also interesting that so many triathletes who race on aero TT bike with depp section wheels, aero helmets, bento boxes, BTA cages and compression socks complain about the “gadgets” during the SwimRun races.
Thanks - I can see this now. I know for myself, using a buoy and paddles drastically helps increase speed as well as stave off fatigue in the water. HOWEVER, running in a wetsuit sounds awful! as well as with wet shoes! not to mention it looks like in most races, your tethered to your partner, which adds a whole extra level of complexity… Hats off to these racers!
Tether is optional. And running in a wetsuit and wet shoes sounds much worse than it is. Plus there are specific Swimrun wetsuits with front zippers.
The tether is an option, and often not used. We used it in Engadin this weekend only during the swim.
You can almost do anything you want in the swim, but whatever gear you use, you must carry with you. If you can figure out how to carry your shoes on the swim and wear fins, but then carry the fins on the run, you’re welcome to do so. My partner and I will be doing the SwimRun in Casco Bay, Portland Maine, coming up in a few weeks. Neither of us intend to use a pull buoy (which those that do, strap them to their leg and spin them to the outside to run) or paddles, although I bought a pair of webbed gloves to try out (legal also). I’m not good swimming with paddles and I don’t think my shoulders would like me much afterwards. I’m counting on the wetsuit to compensate for the shoes and, with practice, I found the shoes are not all that bad to swim in, nor are they horrible to run in, fully wet - they do drain after several steps.
Its really because of the history of the sport: Race organizers Mats and Micke come from the adventure racing world, where the teams can bring quite a lot of equipment. This, in combination that it’s an extremely tough course (more than 50% of participants DNF’d in the first 5-6 years or so before they changed how to enter the race) where some aids should be allowed.
A funny story is that during the first race, there was a ton of mandatory equipment you had to carry with you. Including fins and you had to wear a lifewest. A finnish duo also noticed that one could bring floatation devices, so they had inflatable mattresses to paddle on. They and another team were the only finishers. The course was also race backwards, like it was the first time by the “original 4”.
Non wetsuit would be a nice option, not even mandatory, for those of us who prefer it without. I have no problem with pull buoys when you have to keep your trainers on.
You would not prefer no wetsuit in Ö till Ö. I doubt anyone would finish without a suit. Maybe in 12 hours.
The water is usually 55-60F (12-15c) and choppy. There is some tides. Swimming with shoes without the suit is slow AF. You have nowhere to put your energy and there is still some mandatory equipment.
That’s a fair point. Certainly with the shoes and mandatory equipment it wouldn’t be fun. The water temperature isn’t an issue in itself if you’re used to it but if your core temp drops you won’t be having any kind of decent run between the swims either. One for the shorter swim runs that are around maybe but not the Ö till Ö.
I’m too lazy to look this up for past info: Just wondering why Otillo races allow pull buoys and paddles for the swim? Why is the swim portion not as “pure” as the running part (however, I realize they are running in wetsuits while carrying the paddles and buoy, so that can’t be all that comfortable!)
I’m doing Casco Bay-long course. Av water temp expected 60-62 degrees. I’ve done SOS so I have a tiny bit of experience with a S/R type of event but this will be something all together more challenging. SOS just had us run to 3 lakes and swim across them, carrying everything. I tucked my shoes for that event but will clearly need to keep them on for this.
The S/R wetsuit is more a 3/4 wetsuit and there is less thickness around the groin to help with the ability to run. With less buoyancy, and having a bib on/all kinds of nutrition stuffed inside and shoes on, there is considerable drag. This would challenge the best of swimmers. Practicing with the various ‘toys’ has been enlightening for me and I plan to use what works best for me. And paddles don’t work well for my weak shoulders, so no paddles. I was gung ho to try flippers but even though the swim time was faster, my legs were sore from the longer swims and transition was MUCH slower so I ditched that idea too-which made my partner very happy.
Going from cold to hot is also a big challenge as well as fighting the ocean/tides while swimming with shoes and navigating to take the best line. There are tricks to make carrying the buoy easier and we will use them.
I can’t wait! Our first big practice together is tomorrow with planned race gear and will tether in the swim to practice. Lake swimming won’t have quite the current though…
There are more races coming to North America, and that is a good thing. Racing with a team mate is awesome.
At our race SwimRunNC the field is a 1/3 male, 1/3 female and 1/3 mixed teams. Of those many are husband / wife
We even have teams were the husbands race on a male team and the wives on a female team. All the way from Texas.
H
What specific shoe models have worked well for people in Swimrun?
I run in Inov8 Terraclaw 250 and really like them
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There are more races coming to North America, and that is a good thing. Racing with a team mate is awesome.
At our race SwimRunNC the field is a 1/3 male, 1/3 female and 1/3 mixed teams. Of those many are husband / wife
We even have teams were the husbands race on a male team and the wives on a female team. All the way from Texas.
H
Great race write up, today!
I’d like to see a swim run event outside of Laramie, WY using Crow, Granite and Crystal reservoirs. Plenty of trails, elevation gain and great (cold!) reservoirs, and all between 7 and 9,000ft above sea level.
http://worldofswimrun.com/
tons of information
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There will be many more races. But the good thing is that with so little gear needed traveling to races is not so difficult
We didn’t use pull buoys on the swim nor did we have a tether. I wore paddles in order to help me swim faster and keep up with my husband.
Running in a wetsuit really sucks and it’s exhausting. For runs longer than 10km, we pulled the the tops of our wetsuits down which made a huge difference.
My race report from OTILLO Swimrun Engadin in Switzerland.
http://www.slowtwitch.com/Lifestyle/Harder_shorter_and_colder_6461.html