Ödyssey Swimrun Casco Bay 2021 Race Report

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

We’ve got a special episode this week! We just got back from racing Ödyssey Swimrun’s Casco Bay on Sunday August 8th and we’re going to share our race report on what was a great weekend in Portland, Maine. Hope you enjoy it!

Initial Thoughts

There was a lot of buildup for this race. We’ve basically been training for this thing since January in the hope that races wouldn’t get canceled because of COVID...again. We definitely put in the work and the pre-race nerves were all about being able to put in a performance that was commensurate with all the training that we had been doing.

Getting to the Maine Event

Getting to Portland was uneventful. We flew separately which wasn’t ideal but we hang out enough already.

Just like in Austin last November, it was awesome (and a little surreal) to meet so many new people, put faces to names from our Strava Club and Instagram DMs, and reconnect with previous guests of the show. We did our best to try to remember everyone that we met, so here’s a shout out list: (Super sorry if we forgot anyone)

Luke from New Hampshire (hope the Ark Korp worked out for you)

Lucas, the Renaissance Man as termed by John Stevens

Brooke and Samantha Fallon (finally met them!)

Ben from Arizona who we met outside of Otto's Pizza

Grace Moberg

Ray Conboy

Chris Sweet (a local)

Ian and Nick from the UK

Mick from Australia

Caleb Baity (finally!)

Scott H. from Boston

Jenny Hinshaw (Sarah Fergot’s race partner)

Liza and Mike from LA (we met Mike at Catalina last year)

Chris from Tower 26 (Feel free to use the testimonial that Chris gave you at the post-race party)

Jett and Derek Rosner

Nikos

John from the ca Swimrun crew

John’s friend Heather from Boston

Sophie Molsberry

Scott Turner from DC (Extra special Shout-out)

It was also great to see former guests of the show and folks that we have met at previous events. There are too many of them to list but you know who you are!

Finally, some special bonus shoutouts to the four US teams that are racing the ÖTILLÖ World Championship next month that all came out to Casco Bay for a final tuneup before the big dance. You’re all great ambassadors for US Swimrunning and we’ll all be rooting for you! (Programming alert: we’ve interviewed all of them...except for Mel Bartow...which we will be rectifying soon!)

Team Envol Baywatch (Beek and Blake)

It Be Me Me Me and Timothy (Jonathan and Tim)

The Swimrun Monks (Sean and Phillip)

California Swimrun (Mel and Andy)

Race Day/The Shark Email/Ferry Ride to the Start

At 4:06am on race morning, Ödyssey made a bunch of people shit their pants when they sent out an email letting everyone know about a tagged shark sighting about 4 miles off of Cushing Island (so basically near/not so near the first and second swims.) Obviously, they made the right decision in letting everyone know but it probably wasn’t helping calm the nerves. For our part, we weren’t thinking about it. Our nerves were more about putting together a good race to justify to ourselves that all our training culminated in good race execution, which doesn’t always happen.

The ferry ride was cool and hanging out with everyone at the start line was a lot of fun. Then, just like that the race started!

LTBz Long Course Play-By-Play

R1: Peaks Island (2.0mi)

S1: Peaks Island to Cushing Island (965m/1,055yd)

R2: Cushing Island (2.3mi)

S2: Cushing Island to House Island (645m/705yd)

R3: House Island (.4mi)

S3: House Island to Little Diamond Island (965m/1,055yd)

R4: Little Diamond Island (.8mi)

S4: Little Diamond Island to Great Diamond Island (325m/355yd)

R5: Great Diamond Island (1.3mi)

S5: Great Diamond Island to Cow Island (200m/219yd)

R6: Cow Island (.5mi)

S6: Cow Island to Long Island (965m/1,055yd)

R7: Long Island Part 1 (1.6mi)

S7: Long Island to Vail Island (270m/295yd)

R8: Vail Island (.5mi)

S8: Vail Island back to Long Island (880m/962yd)

R9: Long Island Part 2 (1.6mi)

S9: Long Island to Little Chebeague Island (640m/700yd)

R10: Little Chebeague Island (.4mi)

S10: Little Chebeague Island to (Big) Chebeague Island (560m/612yd)

R11: Chebeague Island (Run 1) (4.25mi)

S11: Chebeague Island (Swim 1) (650m/711yd)

R12: Chebeague Island (Run 2) (.8mi)

S12: Chebeague Island (Swim 2) (400m/437yd)

R13: Chebeague Island (Run 3) (.55mi)

The long course ended up being a bit longer than advertised with most teams saying that the overall distance was around 25 miles. But hey, that’s Swimrun!

We finished the race in 5:10 which was good enough for 10th Place Men’s Team and 11th Overall.

Post Race

The finish line was a lot of fun with everyone cheering the finishers as they crossed the arch.

We ended up tagging along with the Cali Swimrun Crew and got a water taxi back to Portland which was the best $40 that we ever spent..and saved about 2 hours of ferry boat riding to get back to the mainland.

Our inaugural race after party at Lone Pine Brewery was a lot of fun. People showed up which was not a guarantee and it was great to have a venue for everyone to share their war stories from the day and learn from the experiences of others. We learned a ton for sure. Huge thanks for everyone that came out.

Overall Impressions

The race was a great adventure. The course was well marked, the locals were out cheering everyone on, and the sharks minded their own business. The Ödyssey crew did an awesome job and it was easy to see that they were as stoked as all the participants racing.

Final Thoughts

It was so great to get out there and express the fitness that we’ve been developing over the last year. We’re definitely feeling amped up for Orcas Island at the end of September.

That’s it for this week’s show. If you are enjoying the Löw Tide Böyz, be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player and leave us a five-star review. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, and on YouTube. You can also follow our meme page on Instagram. Email us at lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any feedback and/or suggestions. Finally, you can support our efforts on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.

Thanks for listening and see you out there!

- Chip and Chris