The committed chaps at World of Swimrun believed it is a worthy idea to ask me various questions. Read all I have to say about SwimRun and endurance sports on their website.

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It is not an uncommon sign – two Swedes cross the finish line of a SwimRun competition in first place. Magnus Myhrborg and his mate Jesper Hassel grabbed the first place at last weekends Loch Gu Loch SwimRun in around the second largest Scottish loch, the world famous Loch Ness. The two are not only fast athletes, while Magnus owns the sporting-goods website sportlala.se his friend Jesper is the co-founder of health tech start-up mevia.se. I caught up with Gothenburg-based Magnus to talk about their race and their plans ahead.

Picture Credit: SwimRun Scotland

Runssel: Together with Jesper Hassel you earned the top spot at last weekends Loch Gu Loch SwimRun around the spectacular Scottish highlands. What scared you most – Nessie during the cold swims throughout the icy Loch or the elevation gain through the run portions?
Magnus Myhrborg: In the beginning of the race I think it was the extremly cold water because I panicked when I jumped into the water and wanted to return to land and go home again. In the last part of the race it was the elevation, both Jesper and I are good runners when it´s flat so we had some problems with cramps during the last 6 k run.

Picture Credit: Anna-Karin Lundin

Runssel: How did the race progress for you guys? When did you realise you won the battle?
Magnus Myhrborg: We had a really good start with two good swims and OK running, so when we started the 3rd run (9 k running) the course was perfect for us, a bit downhill and some flat where I think we were averaging a running pace of around 4.30 min/km. I think it was that run that gave us a few minutes lead. I think I knew that we were going to win during the last 6 k of running, but Jesper wasn’t sure until we had come out of the water on the last swim and therefore we did not want to celebrate before we past the finish line. We couldn’t see the teams behind us for some time, but we have never been leading a race before so it was a new experience.

Picture Credit: Andy Kirkland

Runssel: Why did you pick the Loch Gu Loch race and in what way did you prepare for the competition? Did you fine-tune your training to the course profile?
Magnus Myhrborg: We picked this race because we wanted to see more of Scotland. I have never been there before so it´s a cool way to explore a country. In regards to our training, it was pretty bad actually. I competed in Ö-loppet in the beginning of August and got hurt. My physiotherapist advised me 2 days before i went to Scotland that Loch Gu Loch was not a good idea. Thus I haven’t run more than 5k 2 times a week for some time. The good thing about that was that i could focus more on my swimming and started swimming with Simcoachen and the awesome coach Anna-Karin Lundin. Jesper has been traveling a lot in his work and could only really get runs in, even though it was not near as much as he had been hoping for. So in all honesty we weren’t as prepared for this race as we would have liked.

Picture Credits: Anna Schlosser

Runssel: What was your team tactic? Do you change the front swimmer during the race? Who is leading the runs?
Magnus Myhrborg: We did not have any particular tactics. Right now I’m the best swimmer so i was in the front all the time in the swimming. We know our strength and weaknesses so we just focus on enjoying the race and being happy all the time. After a bit over 20 k of running i felt that my body was not up for it, so then we put the rope between us and Jesper helped to pull me along a little. On the steeper uphills we walked because we wanted to save energy and we also know that we can run pretty fast downhill and on the flat.

Runssel: You raced several SwimRun races throughout Sweden. What makes this race stick out to the competitions you raced so far?
Magnus Myhrborg: Yes we have been doing this a few years now and we are always looking for new races because it´s an amazing way to explore the nature. This is actually the race that hade the most amazing nature that we have done a SwimRun in. As a result of the race we can say that we really have seen Loch Ness and the nature surrounding it =)

Runssel: Was this your last race in 2016? Any plans for the upcoming season? 
Magnus Myhrborg: No, we have one race left – 1000 Lakes in Germany. So far we have not planned any races. However, there are a couple that we would like to do and it would also be fantastic if we would get the opportunity to compete in the SwimRun World Championship, ÖtillÖ next year.

Eva Nyström knows how to win races. Although she holds Sweden’s fastest Ironman time she raced successfully on international and domestic level, claiming seven national Triathlon and Duathlon championships as well as setting amazing marks in Wintertriathlon. After runner-up in 2007, 2008 und 2011, Eva won the infamous Powerman Zofingen twice in 2012 and 2013 and was crowned Long Distance Duathlon World Champion when she burnt one of the toughest competitions the Multisport world has to offer.

On her first shot on the mighty Ötillö, herself and Sweden-based Aussi Adriel “Bacon” Young went on to rule the Mixed competition and win the competition in 08:49:58 – a new course record.

You think this is remarkable? Well, add a newborn baby girl to all of that and you get a truly amazing story.

Picture Credits: Nadja Odenhage

Runssel: Marika’s and Staffan’s performance at last year’s ÖtillÖ was something else. They burned the preceding course record and outstretched a lot of eyebrows with their overall Top10 finish in 2015. Bacon Young and yourself had no plans on setting a new record this year. Lastly you arrived at Utö Vardhus with a new course best and are the SwimRun World Champions in the mixed category. Now, one week after your race, could you tell the secret of your performance?
Eva Nyström: There is no secret really, just good teamwork, a great day and 20 years of solid training and racing. Many people have talked about it before – If you have trained properly for a long time you somehow have somewhat special left even if you have not trained too much recently. I never believed this until now. I haven’t been working out a lot from the time I found out that I was pregnant one year ago. But still I was training. Compared to my first child I did do less before and after I gave birth this time. I think all the years I have been training and racing paid off. I also know my body very well, and know what I’m capable off. In fact I raced myself back into shape. Before ÖtillÖ I have been competing in 7 races this summer. Just to get back into form. And it worked!

Picture Credits: Nadja Odenhage

Runssel: On the 12th of May this year you gave birth to your daughter Julia. Not even four months later you take on one of the roughest endurance competitions in the world. Evidently you have been very fit before you got pregnant but how did you train throughout the pregnancy and after you gave birth to Julia? When did you know you would be able to race ÖtillÖ?
Eva Nyström: I did not train much in the 2 months before I got Julia, but I still did some light training. I basically listened to my body. Before the birth I walked a lot with poles. Straight after Julia’s birth I started to walk again. Slowly I started to run. With swimming I had to wait 8 weeks after the birth. Then I started to race. It was very hard in the beginning but my body felt better and better. I haven´t told Adriel but I emailed Mats and Michel (the ÖtillÖ race directors) and asked if we could push our start till 2017 but we couldn’t. I also wrote a long email to Adriel just a couple of weeks before the competition and explained to him that I couldn’t race because my shape was too bad. Luckily my partner Martin stopped me and I did not send it. Instead he pulled my around a couple of more SwimRuns throughout the end of the summer. Suddenly some days before Ötillö I felt that I was back in shape.
Furthermore I told Adriel once we entered the race that I only would race when I was in shape. He has never asked me about my form. We have been training together a couple of times around the lake where we live. The first time I thought I was going to die. He was running so fast. Afterwards he looked at the watch and told me that we were faster than the group of guys he had trained with the week before. Small things like this encouraged me even more.

Picture Credits: Jakob Edholm

Runssel: Could you share any tips for sporty-women on how to get back to full fitness after giving birth? What lessons did you learn?
Eva Nyström: Listen to your body! Only yourself will know what is right for you. Just because someone can train shortly after giving birth doesn´t mean that someone else can. It depends on a lot of things. I have listened to my body and done whatever felt right. Now, two week after the race, I did not really move at all. My body and mind is tired and needs to rest. I think it is very dangerous to tell someone else what to do after giving birth. I think it is very, very specific and individual. Just bring your kids for training. It’s great to run with a baby stroller, just try! Don´t be afraid to bring your kids. If they don´t like it, go home and try tomorrow. Trying is much better than complaining.

Runssel: Bacon and yourself competed together for the first time. It seems to work pretty well. How did you guys meet up and did you train a lot together prior to the race?
Eva Nyström: Adriel lives just a couple of kilometers from our house. Initially he asked my partner Martin Flinta to do Ötillö with him. Martin couldn´t join in because he had already planned to go to China for the Stage Adventure Racing World Championship (…he also won this race!) Martin told Adriel to ask me. This was when I was in the middle of my pregnancy. Nonetheless I was keen to race. Still I cannot understand how Adriel wanted to race with me.

Picture Credits: Private

Runssel: You raced a lot of big races throughout the years. It was your first attempt on the ÖtillÖ course. How did you prepare for the course and how do you rate it now that you have done it?
Eva Nyström: To be honest, I did not prepare for the course at all. The plan was simply to have fun and do the race and then maybe come back next year for the victory. But both Adriel and me have been racing Ironmans before so we are in some way adjusted to the length of such a competition. I have also done some multisport, adventure racing and I won Powerman Zofingen, the long-distance Duathlon World Championship two times in 2012 and 2013. Going into the Ötillö we only had a plan of how we should eat and drink.

Runssel: How do you train in general? Do you incorporate your kids in your training regime?
Eva Nyström: Julia is our second child. She has an older brother who is now 5 years old. I have been running a lot with both of my kids. You can say that I build up my running legs for ÖtillÖ with Julia in a Thule Glide. As a replacement for walking with the baby stroller I am running! And I believe in that you should bring your kids whenever it is possibly. Undoubtedly I have been running hundreds of miles with my baby stroller. Furthermore we take our kids with us for strength training. Also on races when it’s possible. We also love to have them with us when we kayak or on the SUP.

Picture Credits: Thule

Runssel: Living in Sweden you are no stranger to SwimRun. On your home-turf the sport is booming tremendously. Races are popping up everywhere and the teams are getting faster and faster. What is so special about the sport and how do you see the development of it?
Eva Nyström: I love being out in the nature and I do love open water swimming. Training outside is the best way to see the world! And a SwimRun can be so diverse. You can run on footpaths, in the forest, on rocks, swim in the ocean, lakes, waves etc. There are no borders. You never know with SwimRun racing. If it rains and it is windy it is a different race. Then, on the other hand, if the sun is shining the same course can be totally different, too. I just love the variations.
I think this sport just really started. SwimRun will be big! Just look at the equipment that is out there. A lot of homemade gear and special kits. I have a cheap wetsuit that I have cut and put an extra zipper on the front. And it is working very well. For example Marika and Staffan had make their own pullbouys. There will be a lot of development when it comes to this kind of things. This is just the start!

Picture Credits: Jakob Edholm

Runssel: You stated that you would not race ÖtillÖ again. Is that a fact?
Eva Nyström: With our victory we do have a spot for next season. However I am not sure if I will race. But during this past week something has grown inside me. If we could win this year and also take the course record we could go be much stronger next year with some more training and the fact that we now have done the race and know the course. But let me talk to Adriel first!

Runssel: What is the plan for the rest of the season?
Eva Nyström: Now after Ötillö I was resting for a full week. The race was very hard on my body. This week I will slowly get back into training again. The plan is to race Koster Swimrun on the 1st of October with my partner Martin. After that I think I will do some trail races and orienteering because I need to practice my running on technical environment.

Eva is suppourted by Thule, Cresent, TEC, Skechers, SRAM, Garmin, Isostar, Scandic Hotels, Nordic Wellness, Aktivitus and Benders

Eva’s Homepage, Facebook and Instagram

I wrote a piece about last Mondays ÖtillÖ race for german Trailblog.de outlet. Click HERE and get some proper german lessons.

Henrik Kindgren and his brother Stephan followed last Mondays ÖtillÖ race from the sideline. They were kind enough to cheer us on and snap some great pics along the way.

Tack så mycket Kindgren bröder!

Chances are high that this years Ötillö competition will see one of speediest races in the women’s class ever. As lineups get more specialized each year eventually the competition gets quicker. After last year’s victory with Partner Annika Eriksson, Utö local Maja Tesch is looking for another extra fast and successful daytrip.

She paired up with 50% of the 2014 winning team – Bibben Nordblom. A few weeks ago Bibben took the 2nd place in her Age Group (W 25-29) in a time of 10:38:34 at Ironman Kalmar. Maja and Bibben are now looking for the win at the iconic SwimRun championships across the Stockholm archipelago.

Runssel: You paired up with Annika Eriksson some days prior to last year’s ÖtillÖ. Successively you won the whole thing. I guess going into this year means added pressure. How do you cope with it?
Maja Tesch: It sure does! But the thing is I’m the one putting a lot of pressure on myself and I’m only doing that because I’m afraid I will be disappointed if I don’t win again – and this I can do anything about! There are a lot of strong teams and in the end everyone will do their best. No matter how it ends you can’t be anything else but proud after finishing such a competition. I remind myself that last year I went into this hoping to survive, this year I’m afraid I will be disappointed if I don’t make it to the podium. The brain is pretty crazy?! I think I’ve been nervous enough, now both Bibben and me are super stoked to race and we will have so much fun chasing our own PB on the course!

Runssel: This year you will be competing with Bibben Nordblom. She won Ötillö in 2014. How did the two of you meet up?
Maja Tesch: Bibben send me an email a few weeks after last years ÖtillÖ and asked if I had a partner for next year. And since I didn’t had my own spot (it was Annikas and Marias) I said yes!

Runssel: You are living on the isle where the race traditionally finishes – Utö. As you know the area very well, what is the most stunning share of the course and what part do you dislike the most?
Maja Tesch: To be honest I don’t remember much from the course because I was focused on keeping my legs in motion! I remember that the run across Ornö island never ended and the only thing that kept me going was the car in front of us broadcasting the live stream because we were in the lead. It would be nice to have that pressure this year again. We’ll have to go fast for that though! My most beautiful memory from the race last year was when we arrived on the top of the island just before the last swim to Utö and you could hear people scream and cheer us on; it gave me enough energy to run all the way to the finish line!

Runssel: Coming into this year’s competition, how often did you guys train together on the course? Did you do any major key workouts in preparation for the race?
Maja Tesch: We have not been training on the course, but Bibben came out to Utö this summer and we trained together for three days. Trying out the length of the cord between us and also ran some technical trail and a lot on rocks.

Runssel: What will your race-plan look like for Mondays contest?
Maja Tesch: We will try to set a good pace from the beginning, pushing our limits but still have in mind that it’s a long day. There are a lot of really strong teams and I’m sure the course record will be sub 10 hours in the women’s class. By whom? Lets wait until this coming Monday.

Runssel: Which advice would you give to every racer?
Maja Tesch: Give it all you have, enjoy it when you can and remember that the faster you run the faster you get rid of the pain. Try to do your own race and to have a great day on the course together with your teammate. But most important ALWAYS cheer on teams you pass or get passed by – unless you see them throw trash on the course – then you can release your inner acid-monster and scream at them for being such dickheads.

Maja is suppourted by Wolff Wear, Head Swimming, Suunto and Merrell