Low Tide Boyz, a Swimrun Podcast

Welcome to episode 132 of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!

This week we have the latest installment in our Swimrun 101 series. In this episode, we are discussing our “official” LTBz top 5 tips for new Swimrunners entering the sport. We get these questions a lot and since we are on a mission to get as many people into the sport as possible, we thought that we would lay out our best thinking on what you should be thinking about if you’re new to this awesome sport. Also, because we are the first to say that we don’t have it all figured out, we asked some of our friends/uber experienced Swimrunners for their insights that we share along the way. Huge thanks to Marcus, Amy and Trista, and Bronwen and Greg for their help in getting this episode together.

Let’s get right to it...

Tip 1: Start Swimming More

Swimrun is more than just alternating swimming and running. At its purest, it’s a sport where participants try to move as seamlessly through nature as possible on their way from A to B. Taking that mindset is the best way to approach your first race.

That being said...you should start swimming more. The stronger of a swimmer that you become, the more likely that you will have a positive experience at your first event. Put another way, unlike run legs when you can walk, stop, or take a break, during swim legs you just have to get them done and the more confident of a swimmer you are, the less likely that your event will be an ordeal. We recommend that you incorporate swim paddles (that are the right size for you) and a buoy to simulate what you will likely be using during a race.

Not sure where to get started with Swimming. We recommend that you check out Tower 26 coaching. They have an awesome online Swim coaching program that we’ve used and helped us tremendously to progress our swimming.

Bonus Tip 1b: Eat/Drink More Than You Think You Need

It’s amazing how many calories you can burn while Swimrunning and you should be practicing your nutrition strategy along with race strategy. Bronwen and Greg of Team Boston Wet Sox (AKA, the most successful American team in the history of the sport) recommend the same and add that if you’re having negative thoughts, it probably means that you are hungry.

Tip 2: Don’t Stress Over Swimrun Gear

We all love getting new gear and Swimrun opens up a whole new bevy of gear options for us to obsess over. Our advice is to try not to. While procuring a Swimrun-specific wetsuit is a good idea so that you have that key piece of kit covered, you can pretty much get by with whatever you have hanging around the house for the rest of your kit. You can use any trail shoe that you might already own, you can DIY a pull buoy setup (a fun rite de passage for all new Swimrunners), and experiment to find what works for you.

That being said, Bronwen and Greg highly recommend that you use a tether (if racing with a partner) and a pull buoy with more floatation that your average pool pull buoy *cough* Ark Keel *cough*. They make a huge difference.

If you insist on getting new gear, our hierarchy of things to get are: 1, a good Swimrun wetsuit; 2, a mondo Euro-style Pull Buoy; 3, good swim paddles that are the right size for you; and 4, Swimrun-specific or well-draining trail shoes with good lugs on the soles.

Trista and Amy from Team Adorkable recommend that before you go “I’d never use...” to look at what most other Swimrunners are using and be willing to try something new since there’s probably a good reason why people use things like “the tether.”

Similarly, Marcus Barton, AKA Mr. Low Tide Boy 2020, and the most experienced Swimrunner in America, suggests that you use the current evolution of Swimrun gear as your baseline. You’ll thank yourself later.

Looking for used Swimrun gear? Make sure to check out the Swimrun Swap Meet on facebook where you can find used, new, and free Swimrun gear for your first event.

Tip 3: Swimrunning is Cold Business

Understanding that you’ll be wet for the better part of a few hours at a minimum means that managing body temperature is important to do correctly to have a positive first experience. What we t...

Welcome to episode 138 of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!

On this week’s show we welcome endurance legend Gordo Byrn. Gordo is a coach, stud endurance athlete and happens to be the only American to ever win ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship. He won the event in 2010 with partner, and fellow endurance legend, Jonas Colting, and we go into all the details of their epic day on the Archipelago.

But first...

Training Update

We just finished our last big week of training with some major pool swims, 4-hour Swimruns, and lots of trail running. With ÖTILLÖ just 11 days away as of this episode’s release, we are feeling pretty good about stuff and are as ready as we’re going to get.

Shoutouts

This week we are shouting out to all the teams racing the One Water Race. More on this race later in the show but rest assured that everyone who lined up at the start is more than worthy of a shoutout.

Feats of Endurance

This week’s Feats of Endurance winner is Aaron Morrison who posted a surprisingly not-chilly Swimrun practice from Juneau Alaska over the weekend. Thanks for proving that if there’s a place to swim and a place to go running nearby, Swimrunning is possible!

Make sure to sign up for our LTBz Strava Club and join Swimrunners from around the world as they train for stuff.

This Week in Swimrun

We’ve got a big update for everyone this week.

In Norway, the epic Rockman Swimrun took place. This race looked as amazing as ever with some incredible photos that you can check out on their fb page. We asked Race Director, Thor Hesselberg, to share his race director report with us so enjoy this latest installment of Race Director Reports.

We also have some exclusive reporting to share about Rockman. In 2023, the race will introduce an Experience distance to go along with their ÖTILLÖ merit race distance.

In France, the also epic Swimrunman Laffrey (the race with the wild vertical kilometer to finish the world series distance race) and it looked like a perfect day for a super hard Swimrun. We love this race for a lot of reasons but especially because the event offers distances for all ability/desire levels from a ÖTILLÖ merit race distance all the way to a kids Swimrun.

In Sweden, there were some fun local Swimrun events that took place including the Skatås Sjöar Swimrun and the Immeln Swimrun. It’s so great to see these local events and it reminds us that these types of events is how the sport grows so make sure to support your local events by either signing up or volunteering.

By the time this show is released, teams will have finished, or will be close to having finished, the inaugural One Water Race. This event is easily the toughest/longest Swimrun event on the planet with a total distance of 250 kms and 50 kms of that being swimming! We promise to have a lot more coverage about the event and teams participating in the next few weeks once we are back from Sweden. In the meantime, check out our interview with co-founder and race director, Thomas Ogander, on Episode 104 of the podcast.

Here in the states, Ödyssey Swimrun Mackinac Island is happening this coming Sunday, August 28. If you’re the type of person that waits until the last minute, well now is your time to shine...and sign up. Make sure to use the code LOWTIDEBOYZ to save 15% off of your registration. This is the second edition of this race and we are bummed that we won’t be out there this year.

That is it for this week. Feel free to reach out and let us know if there’s anything that you’d like for us to mention on the show.

Updates

We have an update for our LTBZ x SWE meetup on Saturday Sept. 3 at 18:30. Thank you to everyone that DM’d us with suggestions on locations. We are planning on posting up at the rooftop bar area of Tak Bar (you can go to tak.se to get location info.) We hope to see you all there!

Special bonus shoutout to Chet for the recommendation.

Gordo Byrn

We have to give a special shoutout to Lars Finanger for connecting us with...

Welcome to Episode 101 of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!

In this episode, we expound upon the various ways that Swimrun teams can qualify for ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship. This episode is pretty self-serving since we were trying to figure this out to determine our own chances of qualifying for the World Championship and figured that we put it together for everyone before the application period opens on December 14th.

There are a total of 160 team spots available for qualification for ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship. The race is held on the first Monday in September every year.

To be able to participate in ÖTILLÖ you have to race in a team consisting of two persons that are at least 18 years old and able to swim. Each team member needs to have valid insurance for swimrun or sports similar to swimrun. Some other things worth noting:

Your application is final and will not be reimbursed if a team is accepted. Use your insurance if you have a medical issue and need a reimbursement.

You are allowed to change one team member of the same gender. This can’t happen until after ÖTILLÖ Engadin.

No external sales of your entry is allowed.

There are five ways to get a spot at the legendary race. We will discuss each below:

1. Podium at ÖTILLÖ World Series Distance Race

Pretty self-explanatory here

9 spots available at each event, 3 for each category (Men’s, Women’s, and Mixed)

2. Direct Qualification

9 spots per event

This is essentially like a roll-down qualification

Spots are distributed between classes according to the number of races per class

E.g., 4 men, 3 mixed, 2 women

3. 7/24 Concept

Starting in 2017, The 7/24 concept is a guaranteed way of getting a spot at the Swimrun World Championship

You and your teammate have to race 5 World Series races & 2 Merit races in 24 months. It can be any of them and it can also be the same races two times. All you have to do is finish them. Then you apply and you will get a guaranteed spot

This way will also put you relatively high in the ranking which will allow you to apply in that category too

4. Race Directors Choice

10 spots at the race director’s discretion

Typically given throughout the year for sponsors, media and/or special circumstances

E.g., when Rich Roll/Chris Hauf qualified in 2018 it was through a director’s choice

5. Swimrun Ranking Points: (We’ll spend most of the time on this one since it’s the method that affects us)

78 Spots

The spots are distributed evenly between the classes according to the amount of applications per class

If you apply in more than one category we will select the team with the highest ranking in the respective category (Men, Women or Mixed)

Reserve lists will be made per class and are based on ranking

Presentation of teams on the first Thursday of February. The application opens on December 14th

Important to note for Race Directors and ranking slots:

The distribution of Ranking and Directors choice Spots will be done according to the amount of applications per category (men, women and mixed) so that we have an equal percentage between the categories.

In other words, if more women teams apply than in year’s past, there will be more spots assigned to that category. Wild Swimrun has a great article on their website explaining how this works.

How does the Swimrun Ranking system work?

It’s basically a points system. Teams register at swimrunranking.com and results are assigned points after teams either submit their finish times or they are auto-populated for ÖTILLÖ events.

The points are distributed based on the following criteria:

The system is built using inverse property.

40% of the points are based on your overall result in the race. No matter which class you are in.

60% of the points are based on your time in relation to the average time of all finishing teams. This means that teams finishing very close together get very similar “time points” in relationship to their position and vice versa i.e. performance driven.

Races are weighted differently. The base points are multiplied by a coefficient that are as follows: ÖTILLÖ World Series Races x 1,25 (ÖTILLÖ World Series Races before 2020 had the coefficient 1,1) and ÖTILLÖ merit races x 1,0.

All teams that finish a race get ranking points.

Your points will devalue with 75% after 365 days from getting them, after 24 mo...

Welcome to our third Low Tide Boyz swimrun gear review show! This review is co-hosted by our friends at Swimrun Labs and we’re super stoked to have them back for another episode.

This show is all about swimrun shoes! Instead of doing a specific review of a product this week, we thought it would be helpful to take a big picture look at Swimrun shoes and all the considerations that should go into selecting the right pair for everyone.

Let’s get right to it!

Global Considerations in Selecting a Swimrun Shoe (or a pair of shoes to use for Swimrun training or events.)

1. Drainage
2. Tread
3. Cushioning/Stack Height
4. Buoyancy
5. Good Fit
6. Particle Size Impermeability/Water Permeability

In general, you shouldn’t do anything different for swimrun than you wouldn’t do for trail running. If you’ve never run in Hokas or minimal shoes, then you shouldn’t go all in because there is a risk of injury. From a medical perspective (courtesy of Annie and Brooke from Swimrun Labs) is to make sure that you take a graded progression to make sure that you don’t go down an injury rabbit hole. Another consideration is that studies have shown that runners that train in various models of shoes have seen a reduced occurrence of injury by 39%.

With all that, let’s talk about specific considerations for Swimrun.

Swim Considerations

Overall, shoe performance in the water should be a net neutral. Swimming with shoes is an unnatural experience and they create a lot of drag. Some of this is mitigated by using a large swimrun pull buoy but at the end of the day you are swimming with shoes and the best that you can hope for is that they are a non-factor.

The features of the shoes should be considered based on the general considerations above. For example, Asher Clark of Vivobarefoot mentioned in Episode 23 of our podcast that they used bright orange on the soles of their swimrun shoes so that partners could easily spot their partner swimming in front of them.

Rule of thumb: you shouldn’t feel annoyed while swimming.

Run Considerations

Obviously, shoes are pretty important on the run.

A great place to start is looking at what shoes you already have and preferably a trail shoe since most if not all Swimrun events are on trails. Not all shoes are created equal so you should make sure to try a couple of shoes because a sloshy shoe will get annoying quickly and not all shoes will feel this way. Does the shoe drain well? Do they retain a lot of water and feel waterlogged?

It is important to test the shoes on various terrains (after swimming in them) to make sure they will work. You can also get technical and soak the shoes in a bucket and then weigh the shoes, wait 2 minutes and then weigh them again to see if they shed a lot of water.

Getting into the water is also loaded with considerations. Speaking of loaded...do your shoes load up with rocks and sand? This can get annoying quickly but it doesn’t happen with every shoe. This is where particle size permeability can come into play and help you have a better race experience. Basically, you want particle impermeability and water permeability.

Another consideration is having an integrated insole in the shoe that you settle on. Removable insoles are basically sponges for water that can lead to sloshiness on the run. Depending on the course, a shoe with a rock plate or a tough sole to prevent sharp rocks from causing discomfort.

Roundtable Discussion, A.K.A. “Shoedown”

This is probably the best part of the show but it’s too much good intel to write it all down. So just listen to the show for all the golden nuggets of wisdom shared.

Overall Impressions

If you haven’t figured it out already, shoes are an individual decision and there are a lot of options to chose from. It’s best to start with what you currently have and experiment in training to make sure that they meet all or most of the general considerations mentioned at the outset. If you have a couple of shoes that work well all the better for injury prevention and for having options depending on the terrain of your next swimrun event.

Feel free to hit us up if you have any questions about this special episode and/or reach out the Annie and Brooke from the Swimrun Labs on their website or on their Swimrun Labs Facebook Group.

Handy List of Sho...

Welcome to episode twenty-nine of the Low Tide Boyz, a Swimrun Podcast!

In honor of Ötillö Engadin happening this week, our guest is Johan Carlsson, a member of last year’s winning Otillo Engadin men’s team (Team Simployer). We chatted about his story, mental toughness and, of course, Swimrun. More on Johan later in the show!

Training Update

Well we did Nicolas Remires’ 3-hour Engadin key swimrun workout that he recommends on our Ötillö Engadin Course Preview episode on Saturday at Aquatic Park in San Francisco. We used Hyde Street (a very steep street famous for the cable cars that go up and down it from Ghirardelli Square) for the “hill.” Needless to say, it lived up to its billing. It was super hard and super fun!

Feats of Endurance Weekly Award

On Saturday, we had Ray and Sandrine (members of our Strava Club) join us for the sufferfest for no other reason than they were easily convinced. For that reason alone they are both winners of this week’s Feats of Endurance award.

LTBz Updates

We only have a couple of updates this week. Make sure to check out our latest column in Triathlete Magazine and hit the like button if you enjoyed it. Also remember to check out our latest special edition episode with the ladies from Swimrun Labs all about Orca Wetsuits.

Johan Carlsson Interview

Johan is a super experienced swimrunner based in Stockholm. We met him earlier this year in Catalina and knew then that we wanted to get him on the show at some point. He came in second in the mixed team division at Otillo Catalina with his girlfriend (and stout swimrunner in her own right) Helena Dalivin. He’s raced pretty much every Ötillö race in the series and won Ötillö Engadin in 2019.

We covered a lot of topics in this conversation. We chatted about Johan’s athletic background, his time in the Navy as an underwater mine-clearing diver (yes, you heard that right), and how he found swimrun thanks to his main partner Joakim Brunzell. Joakim had raced Ötillö in the early days of the championship and convincing Johan to take on the adventure. When they started racing, they were doing it mostly for fun and then at some point they started to train very hard and started seeing great results.

We chatted about his experience racing in Catalina, how he trained for it and where he ranked it in terms of difficulty compared to other Ötillö races (Spoiler alert: They are all tough!). We spent some time talking about swimrun training in general (averaging 20-25 hours a week) and how he sets up his training blocks for the specific features of each course. We also talked about the importance of training the mental game to make sure the mind is ready for the effort required to compete at a high level.

We discussed Ötillö Engadin and how he raced in 2019 to win. He shared some funny race stories with us as well. We talked about training in the age of COVID and how to stay motivated when there aren’t races to train for and keep working on the mental aspect of racing to keep sharp.

You can follow Johan and Team Simployer on Instagram.

That’s it for this week’s show. If you are enjoying the Löw Tide Böyz, please be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify and Google Podcast. You can also follow our meme page on Instagram and on Twitter. Email us at [email protected] with any feedback, suggestions and/or meme suggestions. Finally, you can also support us on Patreon...if you feel so inclined.