Low Tide Boyz, a Swimrun Podcast

Welcome to episode sixty-seven of the Low Tide Boyz - A Swimrun Podcast!On the show this week we have the one and only Aaron Palaian from Ödyssey Swimrun. He has a super interesting back story and we discuss everything from his roots in endurance sports to Orcas and Bears in Alaska to driving cross country flying the Swimrun flag and so much more. More on this interview later in the show.Training UpdateTraining continues as usual and we’re definitely getting the itch to start Swimrunning again. ShoutoutsWe are shouting out the Country of Taiwan this week. They recently climbed into the top ten for downloads by country and we loved seeing that! It still blows our minds the people listen to our show from all over the world and we’re full of gratitude for letting us into your ears.Feats of EnduranceThis week’s winner is our friend Sarah Fergot. We’re pretty sure that she’s won this award before but her Marin High 5 Unsupported (solo) 50 mile FKT with 12,103ft (3,689m) of climbing over the weekend is pretty much an automatic award. She’s awesome and this feat is definitely amazing!Make sure to join the LTBz Strava Club and get inspired by your fellow Swimrunners as they train all over the world.This Week in Swimrun (Powered by Raceid.com)We have a couple of updates to share this week.Torpedo Swimrun held their Cape race over the weekend in Cape Town, South Africa. The course looked epic as it hugged the coastline and had a beach finish. We’re working on getting the folks from Torpedo on the podcast to talk about the growing Swimrun scene in South Africa so stay tuned for that.ÖTILLÖ announced this week that they are moving the date of ÖTILLÖ SWIMRUN UTÖ to June 19-20 from the original date due to uncertainty around Swedish restrictions around hosting events. ÖTILLÖ also announced that they have opened registration for Isles of Scilly 2022 and encourage participants to book their accommodations early since there are a limited number of beds there and they are booked up to a year in advance.In the weekly bummer department, Swimrun Costa Brava by HEAD announced last Friday that they had to cancel their event that was slated to take place on April 17th due to COVID restrictions put in place by the Catalonian government. No rescheduled date has been announced.That’s it for this week. Feel free to email us to tip us off to any events or Swimrun news that you’d like for us to share on the show.UpdatesA huge thanks to everyone that attended our Encore Premiere of All the Way: The Making of Swimrun Champions with special quests Carl Eneroth, George Bjälkemo, and Pontus Lindberg over the weekend. If you missed the Premiere, the film is available for rent or purchase at alltheway.se and all the proceeds go towards The Archipelago Foundation that helps preserve the Stockholm Archipelago that birthed the sport of Swimrun.This Week’s InterviewIt was really fun to have Aaron Palaian on the show. He’s the final person for us to interview from the Ödyssey Swimrun crew. He’s the COO/jack of all trades with a ton of experience in race directing, photography, marketing, and web design. He shared his super interesting origin story and how he found Swimrun. We covered everything from him getting into endurance sports to “impress the ladies,” how he became a uber-successful triathlon race director, how he created some epic Ultra Triathlons like Alaskaman, and how Lars moved to Texas and started to win all of Aaron’s races. We also chatted about the two new races on the Ödyssey race calendar: Luddington and Mackinac Island. Finally, we went into how Ödyssey is working to make Swimrun accessible for everyone that wants to try it.There’s a lot of good stuff in this interview! You can learn more about Aaron on his website and follow him on Facebook and 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 and leave us a five-star review. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Google Podcast. 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 us on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.

15 Apr 202157min

Welcome to episode sixty-six of the Low Tide Boyz - A Swimrun Podcast!We’re super stoked to have George Bjälkemo and Pontus Lindberg back on the show this week to chat about the film All the Way: The Making of Swimrun Champions. We think G & P are great and it was fun to connect with them.More on this interview later in the show.But before we get too far into this episode, this seems like a good time to announce that our first event of our “media company” LTBz Productions, is happening on Sunday, April 11th at 3:00PM EST. We will be hosting an Encore Premiere of All the Way for the U.S. audience that missed the Premiere a few weeks ago. Special guests G & P will be on after the film for a Q&A with the audience. Head over to lowtideboyz.com/alltheway for all the details.Training UpdateTraining continues and we’ve been seeing a lot of improvement thanks to the swim coaching we’ve been getting from Tower26. If anyone is looking to give their swim training a jolt of energy, we definitely recommend their program. Swimrun practices are on the horizon and we’ll be heading back to Lake Sonoma for the first (of hopefully many) Swimrun adventures there. If you want to hear more about Tower26 check our episodes with Gerry Rodrigues, Founder of Tower 26, and Emma-Kate Lidbury and AMA style interview with Tower 26 coaches Megan Melgaard and Jim LubinskShoutoutsWe have a shoutout-heavy episode this week so let’s get right to it. First, a big shoutout to Helene for her generous donation to our fundraiser for Wild Swimrun’s Wild Youth Initiative. If you heard last week’s episode then you know that we’ve raised enough funds for a second woman or girl to attend one of their amazing camps but we’re not satisfied with that. With Helene’s help, we’ve got a jump start on getting a third scholarship funded. You can donate to Wild Swimrun at lowtideboyz.com.Next up, we have a combo shoutout for a great training crew from North Carolina. A group of eight of them are doing their first Swimrun at Lake James in a few weeks. (They were supposed to do the race last year to celebrate Chris’s 60th birthday, but COVID.) So best of luck Chris (and Happy 61st Birthday), Bob, Al, Bobby, Ryan, Kristen, Brian, and Bernard. Thanks for listening to the show and prepare to have an awesome time at Lake James! Finally, we wanted to give an extra special shoutout to Trista Mennen. She was recently selected to be a Wild Swimrun Ambassador and we can’t think of a better person to represent the inclusive spirit of Swimrun and the mission of Wild Swimrun to get more women and girls into the sport. Her enthusiasm is infectious and she’s personally gotten a small army of people to get super stoked on Swimrun. Thank you for everything that you’ve done and will do for the sport.Feats of EnduranceThis week’s winner is none other than Chipper’s brother, Michael. Chipper has been working on getting him super stoked on Swimrun and it’s working! Keep it up “Little Chipper!”Bonus awards this week go to Bronwen and Greg from Team Boston Wet Sox for posting workouts while on their recent vacation to Puerto Rico. They ran in Chris’s hometown and swam in the ancestral waters (Ocean Park) where he learned to swim.Make sure to join the LTBz Strava Club and get inspired by your fellow Swimrunners as they train all over the world.This Week in Swimrun (Powered by Raceid.com)We have a couple of updates to share this week.ÖTILLÖ announced that all of their 2021 events are open for registration on raceid.com. We are already registered for Catalina so come join us. If you need more incentive than just hanging out with us in the back of the field...early bird registration is happening until April 13th so sign up early to save money.Ladies, save the dates of May 15-16 for the next Wild Swimrun camp called Wild Day at Utö. Pretty sure everyone can figure out where the camp is being held. There’s more info on that coming soon so sign up for the Wild Swimrun newsletter to be the first to hear all the details.The next registration price increases for Ödyssey Swimrun events Mackinac Island, Swimrun Ludington, and Swimrun Austin are happening on April 14th at midnight so make sure to sign up soon if you want to race AND save some money. Our sources (the Internet) tell us that Mackinac Island is already 50% sold out so let the FOMO take over and sign up soon! That’s it for this week. Feel free to email us to tip us off to any events or Swimrun news that you’d like for us to share on the show.UpdatesOur latest episode of Gear Talk with The Swimrun Labs is out. We do a full review of the Ark Sports KORP Wetsuit so check it out wherever you’re already listening to podcasts and stuff.Speaking of gear, we were sitting in the idea lab (Chipper’s garage) and came up with something to help everyone buy, sell, or swag new and used gear. Check out our Swimrun Swapmeet Facebook Group and help find your used gear a new loving home.Finally, mark your calendars to join us on Sunday, April 11th at 3:00 PM EST for an Encore Premiere of All the Way: The Making of Swimrun Champions for the U.S. audience that missed the World Premiere a few weeks ago. We will have a live Q&A with George and Pontus after the film. Head over to lowtideboyz.com/alltheway for all the details.This Week’s InterviewWe were super stoked to have George and Pontus back on the show to chat about the film All the Way. We discussed a lot of scenes from the film and dove deeper into their training for the World Championship, their positive attitude, and their relationship as friends and partners. We’ve said this before, but they are great ambassadors for Swimrun and they are really easy to root for.You can follow G and P on Instagram here and here and their Kraken Swimrun training and fika (coffee) crew here.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 and leave us a five-star review. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Google Podcast. 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 us on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.

8 Apr 202155min

Ark Sports KORP Wetsuit ReviewWelcome to Gear Talk! As always, this show is co-hosted by our friends Annie and Brooke from Swimrun Labs.In this episode we do a deep dive into the Ark Sports KORP Wetsuit. This suit has gotten a lot of attention lately due to Ark deeply discounting the suit by 50% for a week that caused the corner of the internet that cares about Swimrun to freak out. We know that a lot of people purchased these suits so we breakdown all of our thoughts on this amazing piece of kit.But first, we are unveiling a new segment...Untethered ThoughtsWe got a great email from Jasper from Belgium with some feedback about our winter open water swimming AND our swim paddles episodes. We really appreciated him taking the time to write to us and that inspired us to create this segment.Jasper (who has a PhD in physiology) wrote to us to clear up that the reason that people tend to pee more when it’s cold is that kidneys are flushing fluid out in order to release pressure from your system to send blood to your core to keep your organs warm. Hence, you can get more dehydrated in cold water so make sure that you’re on top of your hydration all the time, but definitely during cold events.Jasper also had some feedback on some swim paddle testing that he did and had some interesting findings. He found that if he shortened the distance from the tip of the swim paddle to the tip of his fingers that this made his swim times be faster with less shoulder strain. It totally makes sense that if you shorten the lever arm (length of the arm with paddles) that this reduces the torque on the shoulder. If your paddles have extra holes for straps, try to moving them so that your fingertips are closer to the edge of the paddles and see if that works for you. Thank you again Jasper!Reach out to us if you have anything that you’d like to share with us to be part of this new segment. New Gear First ImpressionsWe have two items to discuss this week. Chipper and Chris got the NU Orza Pull Buoy courtesy of The Swimrun Labs. This pull buoy is comparable in size with the new Ark Sport Keel s and comes with a pre-drilled hole and a yellow paracord for mounting. We’re excited to check it out and do a full review on a future episode.Chipper and Chris also got a special delivery from Frank Paddle a few weeks back with two sets of carbon fiber swim paddles to test. Their first impressions are that these things are incredible! A full review will be coming out soon. If you want to learn more about these paddles in the meantime, check out episode 50 of the podcast with Frank Paddle’s founder, Fredrik Bengtsson.Finally, Annie was recently contacted by a couple of companies that are designing Swimrun-specific undergarments for women. Handful (that’s the name of the company) sent over some prototypes for the ladies to test and Innovenia reached out for some customer feedback. Here is the survey link for the Innovenia research. AnnouncementsChipper and Chris were in the garage where most of the show ideas seem to be born and they came up with the idea to create a “Swimrun Swapmeet” on FB. This is a forum for people that are looking for Swimrun gear to buy, sell or trade. So if anyone got one of the KORP suits on faith but the sizing didn’t work out, we have a place for you to try to trade it. Join the Swimru Swap Meet today! The Wetsuit Details from Ark SportsArk Sports describes the KORP as “the optimal all-round” wetsuit. Their website states that “the suit is designed to cover the whole spectra of swimrun races, from shorter sprints to longer full-day adventures. This suit is designed for the athlete who prefers a lightweight and flexible suit where comfort is key.”The KORP is Ark’s entry-level option but the suit is packed with tech. The suit has the following features:Premium Yamamoto LIMESTONE neopreneLow weightScratch-resistant surfaceRunning+Master buoyancy belt - 3 mmAnti-leak neckUltraFlex inner linerBack pocket with zipper closureSeparate arm sleeves includedA medium-size suit weighs in at a ridiculously light 550 grams (19.4 ounces).Running ImpressionsRunning in the KORP is a dream! This “Gen2” wetsuit (a wetsuit little to no neoprene below the waist) like the rest of the Ark Sports suits designed by Daniel Sand, is optimized for running. You can learn more about Daniel on episode 53 of the podcast. The bottom of the suit uses Ark’s Running + fabric that is great to run in and comparable to the Running ++ fabric that Ark uses on the UTÖ and the VIGG. The neoprene on the top of the suit is thin and comfortable to run in.Chipper and Chris took the KORP on a hilly trail run. Cabbing up and down was not a problem at all. Chris thought that the neckline wasn’t as comfortable as the VIGG suit.Swimming ImpressionsChris and Chipper tested a suit in the pool. They both thought that the suit was comfortable to swim in. There was some water that got in through the neck closure and pooled in the lower back but that might be mitigated by making sure that the neckline is sealed right. More testing is required.Brooke tested the suit in open water and did have an issue with the neck seal and had some water pool in her lower back while swimming. She didn’t have any discomfort with the neck closure that Chris and Chipper experienced.This suit felt a little more durable than other Ark Suits that we’ve tested. (Check out our review of the Ark Sports ORNÖ)Transition ImpressionsThe KORP cabs down and up easily and transitions shouldn’t be an issue with this suit. We did have some questions about the placement of the zipper on the back pocket. We thought that it could have been better to either move the zipper to one side or the other or stick to the flap pockets that other Ark suits employ.Pull Buoy Rankings RankingsBrooke 4 Pull BuoysBrooke thought that there is some room for improvement with the suit. She plans on racing in the suit this year. She knocked off some points for the neckline seal issues and for Ark’s “no returns” policy.Chipper 4.5 Pull BuoysChipper thought that for the price point, this suit is good for everyone from beginners to advanced. The suit is durable, comes with separate arm sleeves, and versatile enough to be used in most races.Chris 4 Pull BuoysChris gave the KORP 4 pull buoys but wants to give it 4.5 buoys if he can solve the neckline discomfort. Overall, this is an amazing suit that checks off a lot of boxes. He plans on training in it and maybe racing in it depending on the event.Overall ImpressionsIf you’re looking for an entry-level wetsuit to use in a variety of training and racing conditions then look no further than the Ark Sport KORP. This suit packs in a lot of tech for the price point and won’t be obsolete anytime soon.That’s it for this week’s Gear Talk 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. Email us at lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any feedback, suggestions, and/or meme ideas. Finally, you can also support us on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.

6 Apr 202145min

Welcome to episode sixty-five of the Low Tide Boyz - A Swimrun Podcast!In this episode, we chat with the race director of Swimrun Lake James, Kristen Jeno. This year’s race is coming up on April 24th and we have the origin story and a mini-course preview for everyone to listen to.More on this interview later in the show.ShoutoutsWe have a major shoutout this week to our friends G Flo and Tobias of Team Max Mockermann (and guest on Episode 57 of the Podcast) for sending us a custom LTBz blanket for Christmas. It took over three months for the blanket to arrive from Germany but we were super stoked to receive it and we’re full of gratitude for them making the effort. Feats of EnduranceThis week’s award(s) go to Stirling and Lolo of Team Run for Tacos. They held a fundraising event a few weekends ago on Strava and have a Swimrun in their sights for 2021. Keep up the great work guys!Don’t know what we’re talking about? Join us on Strava and cheer on your fellow Swimrunners as they train all over the world and win free stickers and other cool stuff.This Week in Swimrun (Powered by Raceid.com)We have a couple of updates to share this week.It looks like Swimrunning events in Portugal are back! Swimrun Portugal (check out our interview with race director Bruno Safara on Episode 35 of the podcast) recently announced that the Tamega Swimrun powered by Head Swimming is happening. The race is scheduled for June 6th and offers two distance options. Registration is open on raceid.com.In more of a bummer, the Anjou Swimrun in Angers France announced that they are postponing their 2021 event to 2022. They will be emailing all registered participants with their defer and refund options.The premiere for the film All the Way:The Making of Swimrun Champions was a resounding success last week. Anyone interested in seeing the film has until April 5 to be able to watch it for free at alltheway.se. In related news, we are working on hosting an encore premiere for U.S. swimrunners. We’ll be sharing news about that as soon as we have the date and special guests confirmed.That’s it for this week. Feel free to email us to tip us off to any events or Swimrun news that you’d like for us to share on the show.UpdatesWe have a major update to share! With the help of some generous donations (looking at you Trista and Lori), we’ve managed to raise enough funds to sponsor a second young woman to attend a Wild Swimrun camp as part of their Wild Youth Initiative. We love everything that Wild Swimrun is about and we’re so happy to play a very small part in helping introduce the sport to more women. If you want to learn more about Wild Swimrun, check out our interview with Co-founders Mia and Fanny on Episode 10 of the podcast.The new LTBz hats are here and all the pre-orders have been mailed out! Head over to our store to order one if you’re feeling some FOMO. Use code “NEWLID” to save $10 off any order of $50 or more!This Week’s InterviewThis week’s interview checks off a lot of boxes. We got to chat with a trailblazing race director, learned about the history of Swimrun Lake James, and got a mini-course preview before the sold-out April 24th race. It was great to connect with Kristen Jeno to chat with her about all these topics before the kickoff of the 2021 U.S. Swimrun race calendar. In this interview, we discussed her athletic background and her discovery of Swimrun. (BTW, her first race was the World Championship!) We chatted about her race director background and how she developed her concept to host a Swimrun in Lake James, North Carolina. We got a bird’s eye view of this year’s racecourse from and discussed what the future holds for Swimrunning.You can learn more about Swimrun Lake James on their website.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 and leave us a five-star review. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Google Podcast. 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 us on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.

1 Apr 202146min

Welcome to episode sixty-four of the Low Tide Boyz - A Swimrun Podcast!Welcome to the inaugural LTBz Go To the Movies episode where we review the film All the Way: The Making of Swimrun Champions. This film chronicles the journey of George Bjälkemo and Pontus Lindberg as they prepare for the ÖTILLÖ World Championship. But this film is so much more than that, it’s really a window into the sport of Swimrun and why it’s awesome. It tells the story of Swimrun in a way that can appeal to everyone. The film’s director, Carl Eneroth, shares his discovery and journey in Swimrun and uses his perspective to uncover the magic of the sport and, specifically, the World Championship. The film premiered on March 24th.We were lucky enough to get access to an early version of the film and were blown away by how great it was. George and Pontus were worthy subjects for the film and their humility and commitment to each other showcases some of the best aspects of the sport of Swimrun. The other main character in the film, the Stockholm Archipelago where the sport was born 15 years ago, is both mysterious and enticing for anyone who is predisposed to Swimrun. With the help of ÖTILLÖ, Carl was able to infuse the film with amazing race footage produced by Rasmus Lodenius (learn more about Rasmus on Episode 39 of the podcast) that leaves the audience with a great sense of the magic of the sport.All in all, we both thought that the film was a great way to showcase the sport Swimrun and George and Pontus are easy heroes to care and root for. We recommend this film to everyone who might be interested in Swimrun and if you’ve already drank the kool-aid on the sport this film is sure to keep that flame burning bright. You can learn more about the film at alltheway.se and rent it through that page. All proceeds from rentals and purchases will go to Skärgårdsstiftelsen (The Archipelago Foundation) that has been working since 1959 to preserve and develop the archipelago from Arholma to Landsort. We have been lucky enough to interview many of the swimrunners in All the Way. Here are a list and corresponding episode number if you want to dive in deeper!Mats Skott, Otillo | Episode 16Erica Rosebaum | Episdoe 22Daniel Hanson (in Engadin Course Preview) | Episode 24Kraken Ultra Swimrun w/ George & Pontus | Episode 36Rasmus Lodenius | Episode 39Annika Erickson | Episode 55 Carl Eneroth, Director All the Way | Episode 62That’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 and leave us a five-star review. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Google Podcast. 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 us on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.

25 Mar 202126min

Welcome to episode sixty-three of the Low Tide Boyz - A Swimrun Podcast!In this episode, we head to the Gold Coast of Australia to chat with Ty Dowks from Burleigh Swim Run. It was great to interview Ty about his event and celebrate the 11th edition that took place earlier this year.More on this interview later in the show.ShoutoutsThis week we have not one, but two shoutouts! First, we’d like to shout out Jasper Dewit for sending us a new entry to our International Swimrun Adventure Guide all the way from Belgium. We really appreciate your help in growing our guide!We’d also like to shout out Lori Lussier for making a donation to our WILD Youth Initiative fundraiser for Wild Swimrun, our guest on episode 10. On that note, we are getting close to raising enough money to fund a second scholarship for a young woman to attend one of their amazing camps as part of the WILD Youth Initiative so head over to our website to donate.Training UpdateUnstructured training continues except for in the pool where we the great minds at Tower26 are helping us be less bad in the water. We’re still waiting for events to resume in California but until then you can find us doing random stuff.Feats of EnduranceThis week’s prestigious award goes to Rick Mann from Florida. He’s been posting up some cool workouts while on vacation in Chris’s homeland of Puerto Rico so that pretty much triggers an automatic award!Make sure to join us on Strava and cheer on your fellow Swimrunners as they train all over the world.This Week in Swimrun (Powered by Raceid.com)We have a couple of updates to share this week.The 4th edition of Swimrun Uruguay happened over the weekend. The weather looked amazing and while the Instagram photos weren’t as plentiful as we would have liked, we experienced FOMO just the same.The Holy Island Swimrun put on by the good folks at Love Swimrun is happening on September 11th in North Wales. New for 2021: they’ve extended their full course to 23km and added a new 10km sprint course. Best of all, registration is open now!Registration for the 5th edition of Swimrun Cote D’Azur is open taking place on October 24th. Located near Nice France, this race has three distances and looks really fun! Make sure to listen to our episode with the Swimrun Mermaids if you want to learn more about this jewel of a location for Swimrunning.Unless you were living under a rock...where you didn’t have WIFI, you probably took advantage of the 50% off sale last week for the entry-level/yet still pretty advanced Ark Sports Korp wetsuit. We will be sharing a full review on Gear Talk soon so keep a lookout for that. (Spoiler alert: it’s a great suit!)That’s it for this week. Feel free to email us to tip us off to any events or Swimrun news that you’d like for us to share on the show.UpdatesOur latest episode of Gear Talk with The Swimrun Labs is out now! We reviewed the new Ark Sports Keel+ so check that out if you’re in the market for a mondo pull buoy or just want to hear Chipper try to say “Lasso” correctly.The new LTBz hats are here! Head over to our store to order one or three. Use code “NEWLID” to save $10 of an order of $50 or more!The world premiere of All the Way: The Making of Swimrun Champions is taking place next week on March 24th at 8PM CET (11AM Pacific.) We encourage everyone to sign up on the film’s website to watch for free. Check it out and let us know what you think. On a related note, we have a programming alert for next week. We will be sharing a new show format where we will be giving our official long-form review of the All the Way film.This Week’s InterviewFull disclosure: when we reached out to Ty about being on the show, we weren’t sure what exactly we were getting into. We had heard about his Burleigh Swim Run race and checked out the Instagram page but as soon as we got on the phone with him, we were super stoked that we did. Following the long and storied tradition of the Australian Nutri-Grain IronMan and IronWoman series where athletes engage in a variety of feats of endurance, Ty created an event for the entire community to Swim and then Run. While not your typical Swimrun in the European-style, Burleigh Swim Run has all the fun and community feels that you’d find any Swimrun finish line around the world.In this interview, we chatted with Ty about how he got into the Swim Run space and how he came up with the idea for the Burleigh Swim Run. We spoke about how the event has grown over the 11 years that he’s put it on and what the future holds. The fact that we recorded this interview while he was coaching a bunch of kids at an open water swim meet pretty much tells you all you need to know about Ty’s passion.You can learn more about the Burleigh Swim Run on their website and check them out 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 and leave us a five-star review. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Google Podcast. 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 us on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.

18 Mar 202137min

Welcome to Gear Talk: The Löw Tide Böyz and Swimrun Labs swimrun gear review show!In this episode we discuss one of our favorite topics: Pull Buoys. We do a deep dive into the new Ark Sports Keel + and break it all down.Before we get into that, we have some gear updates.Gear UpdatesAnnie dusted the cobwebs off of her old Finis Swim Snorkel and has started using it in the pool again to mixed results. Speaking about swim snorkels...Chris ended up copying Chipper and got the Aqua Sphere/Michael Phelps Focus Swim Snorkel and thinks that it is a vast improvement from his old Finis one but is still getting used to it. Brooke is 100% sold on the NRS Maxim gloves. She used them in open water in the ocean for the first time and they were amazing. She has since ordered the NRS Booties to complete her cold open water situation.Chipper is still in love with his Red Original Dry Robe and hasn’t been stopped by the neighborhood watch yet so all’s good there.Keel + Pull Buoy ReviewThe Keel + is the largest pull buoy available from Ark Sports. With the following dimensions: Length 28 cm, Height 31 cm, and Width 12 cm. For reference, ÖTILLÖ has limit on the maximum pull buoy size of Length 30 cm, Height 32 cm, and Width 15 cm. We think that Ark Sports didn’t take it to the limit because it didn’t need to. The Keel + is super buoyant at 55 Newtons and any more might just be too much. Swimming ImpressionsAnnie and Brooke did some scientific testing in the pool comparing the Keel to the Keel +. For Brooke, the Keel + was 2 seconds per hundred faster than the regular Keel. She also thought that the pull buoy was a bit “too much” in terms of buoyancy. She also felt that the Keel + was a bit too long and she couldn’t keep it nice and snug between her legs. Annie was disappointed in her swim test. She tested the NU ORZA, Swimrunner’s Piraya, and the Keel pull buoys and was fully expecting that the Keel + would make her faster but instead she was about 2 seconds per hundred slower than with the regular Keel. She felt that the Keel + was too big and challenging to wield. It felt thick between the thighs and it went below the joint line of her knees and couldn’t get comfortable with it.Chris and Chipper also tried to do “science.” For Chris, the Keel + was definitely faster in the water than the normal Keel. He felt that the fit was a bit tough because the pull buoy felt fine in the groin but it was hard to keep between the legs towards the knees and it felt like it was popping out a bit. Chipper tested the Keel + just using the buoy with no paddles and felt that it was faster in the pool and in open water. He thought it was too big for the pool.Chipper and Chris did use the Keel + in training and raced with it in Ödyssey Swimrun Austin and it was a non-issue in the water.Transition and Running Impressions Brooke practiced transitioning with the Keel + and found that tucking it into the loop was only possible by using Chris’s method of tucking the buoy in the front and then moving it to the back. Chipper also had to use Chris’s method for the Keel +. Everyone thought that a thigh mount pull buoy method might be tough to pull off. There’s just a lot of pull buoy that will stick out while on the run. Speaking of the run, Chipper and Chris practiced with the Keel + before Swimrun Austin and felt that it was fine. The Keel + wasn’t so wide that elbows would hit the thing during a normal stride but it did take up the whole back.Pull Buoy Rankings(By way of reminder from our Ark Sports Keel review Gear Talk Episode: Annie, Chipper, and Chris gave the Keel 4.5 pull buoys each and Brooke gave it 4 pull buoys.)Chris’s Pull Buoy RankingChris gave the Keel + 4.5 pull buoys. The Keel + has a very specific application and it works really well if you’re tall enough and strong enough to wield it. He docked it .5 for the lack of universal applicability. He plans on continuing to race with the Keel +.Brooke’s Pull Buoy RankingBrooke gave it 4 pull buoys. She docked some points for it being over-designed and she didn’t feel that the Keel + gave a distinct advantage but it is a great option for people that come in different shapes and sizes.Chipper’s Pull Buoy RankingChipper gave it 4 pull buoys. He docked some points because the Keel + didn’t have universal applicability and not something that you could use for all aspects of Swimrun training and racing like one could with the Keel.Annie’s Pull Buoy RankingAnnie gave the Keel + 3 pull buoys. She felt that it was over-designed and sort of sets up an arms race of having multiple pieces of gear. She also felt that this wasn’t the only pull buoy that you have in your quiver. Overall ImpressionsWe all felt that the Keel + isn’t for everyone. It’s a great piece of tech for those who feel that they can wield it but it might pose a challenge for shorter athletes or those that don’t want to be engaging their adductor muscles for an entire Swimrun. It’s a great option to have but we would recommend that if you’re just going to have one mondo pull buoy, that one the size of the regular Keel is way more versatile.That’s it for this week’s Gear Talk 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 lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any feedback, suggestions, and/or meme suggestions. Finally, you can also support us on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.

16 Mar 202144min

Welcome to episode sixty-two of the Low Tide Boyz - A Swimrun Podcast!We know that we always say that we’re always super stoked about our guests but it’s just true. This week is no exception. On the show this week we have Carl Eneroth, the filmmaker behind the forthcoming documentary All the Way: The Making of Swimrun Champions. This film chronicles the journey of George Bjälkemo and Pontus Lindberg as they prepare for the ÖTILLÖ World Championship. But this film is so much more than that, it’s really a window into the sport of Swimrun and why it’s awesome. The free online premiere of the film is scheduled for March 24th and we highly, highly encourage anyone who loves Swimrun to check it out. We also encourage anyone who loves someone who loves Swimrun to check it out as well.More on this interview later in the show.Shoutouts/Feats of EnduranceThis week we’re doing a combo shoutout and awarding our friend, and the previous guest of the show way back on episode twenty-eight, Adam Skolnick. He completed David Goggins’s 4x4x48 over the weekend and did great! As big proponents of “unnecessary” feats of endurance, Adam really stepped out of his comfort zone, put himself out there, and got it done. Strong work brother!We had a few other folks in our Strava club take on the challenge so congrats to Ben and Tony and anyone else that we might have missed.Make sure to join us on Strava and cheer on your fellow Swimrunners as they train all over the world. This Week in Swimrun (Powered by Raceid.com)We have a couple of updates to share this week.ÖTILLÖ Swimrun announced some changes to their 2021 race schedule due to the ever-changing COVID situation. ÖTILLÖ Malta has been postponed to November 2021 and unfortunately, ÖTILLÖ Isles of Scilly has been postponed to 2022. The third edition of Swimrun del Bilancino is taking place on June 13 in Barberino di Mugello in the Tuscany region of Italy. The race offers two distances (SPRINT with 4km swim and 18km run and PROMO with 1.5km swim and 10km run) and did we mention that it’s in Tuscany! Thank you to race director Paul Bernier for bringing this race to our attention. (In case the name Mugello rings a bell to fans of F1, it’s the location of the circuit by the same name and the test track for Ferrari.)In other race news, the Trans Cape Swimrun took place over the weekend in Western Australia. The race was completely sold out and photos on Instagram showed an epic day for racing with really cool terrain and, of course, a ton of smiling faces. That’s it for this week. Feel free to email us to tip us off to any events or Swimrun news that you’d like for us to share on the show.This Week’s Interview is a saying that this week’s guest Carl Eneroth mentioned to us and we think that it perfectly embodies the spirit of Swimrun. It means “Team before self” and Carl found a way to capture that spirit in his film, All the Way: The Making of Swimrun Champions. In the film, Carl shows the magic of the sport in a way in a multi-layered way that we haven’t seen presented before. Following George and Pontus (two world-class humans, athletes, and previous guests on the show) as they train for the 2018 and 2019 ÖTILLÖ World Championship, the film interlaces interviews from previous winners and giants of the sport with race footage and successfully makes the case that Swimrun is a hero’s pursuit.In this interview, we chatted with Carl about how he got into filmmaking and how he discovered Swimrun and what was the spark that led him to want to make a documentary about the sport. We discussed some of the central themes of the film including the magnetic Swimrun community, the joy of moving through nature, the insights into what it takes to Swimrun at a high level, and, of course, collectively agree that George and Pontus are awesome.We encourage everyone to sign up on the film’s website to watch the free premiere on March 24th at 8PM CET (11AM Pacific.) If you haven’t already drank the Kool Aid on Swimrun before watching it, you’ll start drinking it during this film.You can learn more about Carl and his film company, The Stockholm Social Innovation Lab on their website. 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 and leave us a five-star review. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Google Podcast. 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 us on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.

11 Mar 202145min