For some it went exactly as planned. For others not at all. Swimrun can be a bit like life in general. Unfair, hard and fantastic!
Nicolas – Did you realise the race was over when you fell? Was it hard to tell your partner? How do you feel now?
After a first tough climb, we were speeding up in the downhill passing by some slower teams.
Unfortunately the single track was not offering much space and I eventually put my foot on the wrong stone which made me twist my left ankle.
As it was my first ankle injury, I did not know how bad it was at the start but the feeling was pretty bad, had difficulty standing up, could not run properly anymore …
Alex and I quickly agreed that the best way to deal with it was to stop the race as our common goal was not to spend 8h+ walking on the track.
I was feeling really bad for making us stop the race but Alex and Sasha (his girlfriend who were supporting us along the track) were really supportive and helped me mitigate this unfortunate event.
I’ve now started the recovery process and will hopefully be up and running for the next race !
Alexandre – What was your thoughts when Nicolas got hurt?
I will try to see the positive side of what I experienced this Sunday. The DNF will help me to be even more motivated to try to win the next race.
Victor – How was it to race with someone who usually always win?
To race with Desirée was inspirational and fun. For me it is important to have fun with the partner I race with, whatever merits they have. Desirée is truly a humble and great athlete, easy to connect with and possess great knowledge of swimrun strategy and tactics. By racing with her I learned a lot about how to plan the race From different approaches and laying out strategy for different sections. Together we also had fun along the way, pushed each other and challenged our opponents. Hopefully I will be able to race once again with her in the future.
Desirée – When do we get to see you on top of the overall podium? Not much else left!
Not too far away this time, it’s really motivating. I guess even more swims and maybe longer swims is something that would be an advantage for me when trying to reach the overall podium. And maybe some more kilometres even if it’s hard I think we did loose more time in the beginning than in the end of the race compared to the men in front of us.
Desirée and Victor
Sabina – When did you realise something was wrong? Did you tell Alexis straight away? How do you feel now?
I really don’t know what happen yesterday. I was in a good shape in the morning and ready for thé race. I started feeling not good after the first swim. My stomach was close and was difficult for me to eat something. When we arrived at the top I felt my body energy very low like if I was about to faint, I try to eat but the sensation was almost there. Alexis asked me if I was ok, and I told him how I was feeling. He helped me to push and try to continue but he understood that I was really weak. After 3h I had to stop, it was so hard to follow Alexis, I was suffering too much. Was hard to stop … it’s my first DNF, never had something like that happen to me!
Now, after an afternoon in bed with high body temperature, I feel better, my stomach is not ok yet but better than yesterday.
Alexis – How do you deal with it when your partner says she is not feeling well? When did you decide to DNF?
We have raced so much together that I can tell if something is wrong only by listening to her breathing or to her cadence. In this case, I could feel that something wasn’t as usual during the uphill trail section after the first swim. I was pulling harder than usual so I confirmed by talking with her. She wasn’t able to finish a gel which meant that something was wrong with her stomach. I talked to her, tried to make her focus on something else. Once we got to the top, she started to feel better and we were able to run up the hill. During the downhill, it got worse as she started to feel dizzy, her legs were not feeling good and she didn’t answer me several times. We usually communicate quite a lot during a race and her not responding told me something was definitely off.
Before the second swim her legs still didn’t feel better, at the exit of the swim, she was barely able to get into a jog. I tried pulling as we met our teammates Desiree and Victor so we could stay together and help each other. We swam well in the 3rd and 4th swim but at the exit I think it was when I realised that maybe we need to stop. At the 3rd aid station, she stopped as it was hard to continue but after talking a bit we continued walking as sometimes it feels better to “shake off” the bad sensations.
The decision to stop came at the top of this running section as I really was pulling her and she couldn’t get rid of the aching in her stomach, dizziness and feeble legs.
We took the mutual decision to finish the downhill trail and stop.
Honestly, she pushed as hard as she could from start to finish. Even with all she went through, we were still on schedule compared to the times we had fixed before the race. During what probably felt like the longest 3 hours of her life, she continued pushing forward as hard as she could. Massive respect for my Super Saby.
Alexis and Sabina
Claudia and Arnd Hille- You suffered in Engadin. How did your relation outside of swimrun helped you to keep going?
Since we have been married for 25 years and have mastered many sporting challenges together during this time, we know very well when the other person is really not well or has a mental low. We can react accordingly without wasting words. Whether it is to push the other or to slow down the speed. Like yesterday, when there were definitely no mental problems.
Christian- always there, solid, what will be next for you? What is your challenge now?
Eduard- you went for the podium and made it … impressive. What did you go through mentally during the race?
Montse and I divided the race in three parts. The first one was from the start line until the end of second swim. In this part our goal was to know in which war will we would engage in during the second and third sections. We started easy knowing our good skills downhilling from the first lake and avoiding a crazy start.
After this we saw that we could fight for a podium position.
The second part was until the big 1400 swim. Our goal was to arrive there and see the teams that were in podium position. This goal was fully accomplished because we were the team in podium position and we didn’t see the 4th and 5th in the water. We pushed hard in the trail and swim sections and it was the reward: a peaceful 3rd section. We had saved some energy for this part but we didn’t need to use it. It was impossible to catch up the second team and we decided to secure our podium with a conservative downhill and a consistent swim against the waves. And it was all! We did the race as we planned and it. I hope to have more races like this.
Eduard and Montse
PJ/Albane- you are best friends, she was scared of this premiere. How did you do to get through it? (See top image for quick answer …)
My plan was, as every race, to talk a lot with my partner to keep the flow and the mutual energy at the optimal level. Listening to adjust the right pace all along, I even had to calm her down on some downhills ! I am impatient to see the next step and to plan some races together.
Albane: Pilou is a partner very attentive to my feelings. We communicated a lot and always in a good mood. The goal was to finish well physically. I had a complicated start. I was stressed, without warming up at altitude, I panicked a bit but then I gained confidence and started to believe that being a finisher was not just a dream. I had a golden partner who gave me the chance to have an extraordinary adventure in a magical place. The swimrun is a discipline full of twists and Pilou has experience that he likes to share. The smile was our fuel all day to overcome the cold water, the elevation and the distance. We got along well before and this partnership sealed our friendship even more. He had anticipated everything so that my first ÖtillÖ would make me want to start again!
Benoit – How was it to race with someone doing his first long race? What was your Plan Of Attack?
I had a wonderful time with Jeff at ÖtillÖ Engadin 2020. I enjoyed our partnership and friendship. Jeff has a strong will. He had to endure shortness of breath in the swim due to the cold water and altitude and cramps all along the course. But he was determined to finish the race. I focused on making sure he had a good experience, despite the pain. Switching from focusing on the issues at hand to talking about other things, to sharing what I do to enjoy the time, to looking at the scenery, to getting spectators to cheer.
The race with Jeff was a good learning experience. Understanding the mental and physical state of my partner and knowing what to do requires some knowledge and experience. I also realised that it’s not only about what you do during the race but also before and after it. I compare supporting my partner in a swimrun race to servant leadership in professional life. Leading others is to serve others.
Scott- you race with a last minute partner, positive and negative about that?
It’s important with new partners to be completely honest about expectations and what your strengths and weaknesses are. Deborah has an elite background in rowing growing up in Belgium and skimo over the last few years living in Lausanne. She has done a lot of running of swimming, trail running and swimrun with her boyfriend, who came in 7th in Engadin and 20th last year in the World Championships. But she had never done swimrun.
We decided to be fast on technical and measured on uphill. We followed that plan quite well despite some stomach hiccups along the way. I was coming off a hip injury and still have a weak left shoulder which slowed us down. We stayed very positive and really enjoyed the course and giggled at the masochist who designed the last few kilometres. We have much to improve on but we had a lot of fun and I think a relaxed and positive attitude is the key to making the day work!
Marine- There wasn’t many female teams in this race. Was it discouraging to race mostly with men?
There weren’t many girls teams in this race, but there was a high level … so great motivation. This allowed us to measure ourselves against the best and see the points to improve … the result of this race is very encouraging for the future. I still have a lot of work to do in swimming and running. I will try to get even better …
Jeff – what was your biggest concern for your first long swimrun? Did it help to race with an experienced partner?
And finally I had the chance to share this race with Benoit. He was extraordinary and he brought me to the finish line because I had a lot of problems during this race but we refused to give up. Being with an experienced person can only help novices like me … it is both reassuring and encouraging. Thank you again to Benoît!
