Low Tide Boyz, a Swimrun Podcast

Gear Selection Recap for ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship.Welcome to Gear Talk with our friends Annie and Brooke from Swimrun Labs.In this episode, the gang catches up about all things…ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship. We discuss the gear selection choices, how the race went, and so much more. Annie and Brooke ask most of the questions but this conversation goes beyond just gear. Enjoy!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.

20 Sep 20221h 1min

Welcome to episode 141 of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!While we are physically back in California, we are very much still basking in a Swedish glow from last week’s ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship. To keep those vibes going, we are joined on the show this week by Helena Sivertsson and Ulrika Eriksson, a.k.a. Team Stena Recycling. Helena and Ulrika are amazing athletes, multiple time World Champions and winners of this year’s race while setting a new course record (and veritably smashing the old one) in the process. But first...Training UpdateIt’s nice to be able to say that there is no training update this week. We took a much earned chill week but will start setting our sights for our next race, SwimrunNC, happening in a month. (BTW, this is the last year that this ÖTILLÖ merit race is taking place. There are still some race entries available so sign up and join us at Hanging Rock State Park in October!)ShoutoutsThis week we are shouting out our spouses. We know that we shout them out at the end of every episode but they really went above and beyond handling everything at home while we were in Sweden last week. It’s not easy to have to hear us talk about Swimrun all the time AND be away for races and we thank them for supporting us on this wild journey.Feats of EnduranceThis week’s Feats of Endurance winners are literally everyone that lined up at the start of the World Championship last week. Just getting to that start line required hard work, dedication, and courage. We see you and we’re stoked to have been able to share the day with you.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 SwimrunWe’ve got a couple of updates for everyone this week.There are a lot of great events happening this weekend!Here in the U.S., one of our favorite races, Ödyssey Swimrun Orcas Island, is happening on Sunday. This race is awesome and the location is truly magical. We’ve said this before but 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. Over in Finland, the Folkhälsan Swimrun is taking place on Saturday. We keep hearing awesome things about the vibes at this event and definitely plan on racing it one of these years. Maybe next year?In Spain, Swimrun Madrid is hosting their Swimrun El Atazar on Sunday. The location is about 45 minutes north of Madrid and looks dope. The race organizers are expecting over 300 Swimrunners from all over Spain and abroad so that is awesome! We definitely want to learn more about the Spanish Swimrunning scene so stay tuned for a future episode about that.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.UpdatesTwo new videos over on our YouTube channel. A Cabbing down overview, tips, and step-by-step guide and an overview and first impressions of the new Ark Sports Utö Air Sleeveless Wetsuit.Check out our Gear Talk: Quick Hits Reels on our IG. We’ve been getting great feedback on these, so let us know if there is anything you want us to cover on that front. Are you enjoying the show and want other people to find it and the sport of Swimrun? Well, consider leaving a review for the show on apple podcasts or rate us on spotify. This is the best way to help new people discover the show and it helps us look good. It only takes a minute and it means a lot to us.Team Stena RecyclingWhat can we say about Helena and Ulrika? They are amazing athletes and it was so great to chat with them about their incredible performance at ÖTILLÖ. Even more incredible is that they teamed up on the way to the race after both of their original partners had to back out due to illness. In this conversation we talked about their racing background, got their race report, and discussed how to get more women into the sport. They were awesome and we think that you’ll love this conversation as much as we did.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

15 Sep 202241min

Welcome to episode 140 of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!“From LFG to WFD (We Fucking Did it!)”Welcome to the Löw Tide Böyz, a Swimrun podcast. This is episode 140 of the show.In this episode, we will be sharing our race report for the 2022 ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship. This race our A-race to end all A-races and delivered on every level. In short, the race was amazing and it was the experience of a lifetime. We had a great day on the Archipelago and only deepened our love for the sport of Swimrun and the Swimrun community at large. Enjoy!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

8 Sep 20221h 19min

Welcome to episode 139 of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!This is the final installment of our “Countdown to ÖTILLÖ” show where we discuss our journey to the start line of the 2022 ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship. Well, the race is finally here. When this show is released we will already be in Sweden drinking Fika and finding slippery rocks to run on before heading to Djurönäset for the pre-race briefing. We have a lot of people to thank that helped us get to this point and we want to share some of the amazing pro-tips that we have received in the course of these Countdown episodes and over the years.But first…We want to give one final giant thank you to our supporters Ödyssey Swimrun, Frank Paddle, and Precision Fuel and Hydration for helping make this show possible. Make sure to use the code “LOWTIDE22” to save 15% off of your first order from Precision Fuel and Hydration. Use the code “LOWTIDEBOYZ” that is good for 15% off of your registration for any and all of Odyssey Swimrun’s 2022 events. Finally, Frank Paddle’s new paddles are out now! Definitely check those out if you’re interested in the latest evolution in carbon fiber swim paddle technology.How’s the Body? How’s the Mind?Safe to say that we both feel ready physically and mentally for the race. We are looking forward to sharing the adventure on the Archipelago and it is wild that the race is here after so many months!WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PRO-TIPSWe are blessed to have been able to have so many great guests on the show to share with us their insight about the World Championship and we wanted to summarize some of the best tips that we got for everyone racing…or considering trying to quality. We’ve added hyperlinks to the shows mentioned in case anyone wants to listen to the complete interviews. Let’s get to it!Oscar Olsson: Episode 85On the longer runs, you know you’re getting to a swim leg when the gravel road ends. (Good time to start cabbing up)Take a gel before starting the pig swimStrobe lights at the first swim and the pig swimAlso, “take a fucking gel!”Get moving after the pig swim to warm up and shake off the hard swimTether on the long runsDefinitely cab down for the ORNÖ runThe last swim before UTÖ can be tricky, spend an extra five seconds to get a sense of the current before going inMarika Wagner: Episode 105Enjoy the sunrise on the first swimDiane Sadik: Episode 112Eat every 30 minutesSwitch up leading swims early on to stay warmThe Swimrun Monks: Episode 122 Eat a lot.Jenny Ramstedt: Episode 112If you have a chance, running the island of ORNÖ outside of race is a good idea to get a sense of what the terrain will be like (knowledge is power pro tip)Anna Lundberg: Episode 118Namdö cutoff is the one to pay attention toGet your suit on and organized before going to the breakfast on race morningBill Lankford: Episode 109Bring a bag/luggage with wheels for your stuff because carrying a bag the day after the race will be toughJonas and Lars Ekman: Episode 116Visualize minimizing your transitions to save time on race dayDo the race before you think you’re ready for itPace your swims in the first third of the race and try to find feet to draft off ofVille Engberg: Episode 119Watch out for the swim after the pig swim because that one is usually coldTry to find a good pack to swim with early onDon’t worry about not running on the first few islandsNicolas Remires: Episode 126Don’t try to memorize every leg. Instead think about the race in terms of five sections and learn the features of each section from aid-station/cut-off.Andy Blow: Episode 118Don’t go to the breakfast on race morning. It’s a mess. Instead bring whatever food you will eat with you so you don’t have to deal with that.Jonas Colting: Episode 131Don’t worry about doing a warm-up run before the race. Relax on the ferry and avoid the anxious energy: Use the first run as the warmup.Do work and get through the swimsSusie Moonan: Episode 122Take a moment to look at your partner and be present during the raceWhen you feel low, Remember why you are doing the race and focus on the belief that you can do this!See you out there!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

1 Sep 202227min

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 UpdateWe 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. ShoutoutsThis 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 EnduranceThis 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 SwimrunWe’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.UpdatesWe 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 ByrnWe have to give a special shoutout to Lars Finanger for connecting us with Gordo. It was so cool to go back down memory lane with Gordo about his ÖTILLÖ experience. Even though it was twelve years ago now, his memories of the event are as crisp as ever and it was obvious that he had an amazing experience racing with Jonas Colting. In this chat, we talked about his endurance background, how he found his way to ÖTILLÖ and how he’s seen the sport evolve since his race back in 2010. We loved this conversation and know that you will as well. Enjoy!BTW, check out Gordo’s blog that he’s been updating every week for almost 20 years at feelthebyrn.blog.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

25 Aug 20221h 3min

Welcome to episode 137 of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!Joining us on the show this week is the wife and husband duo of Liz and Jacob Gilden, A.K.A. Team #batmansparents. They are a power couple out of Virginia and are headed to Sweden for their first ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship. This was a really fun conversation and we’re stoked to share it with you. But first...Training UpdateWe got in another solid week of training. We had some interesting scheduling challenges though. We ended up doing our Saturday-scheduled mondo Swimrun practice on Friday afternoon so Chris could prepare for his son’s 3rd birthday party. We have one more biggish week of training and then we’re two weeks away from ÖTILLÖ.ShoutoutsWe’ve got a mondo shouting out to give this week to the awesome crew at Traverse Fitness in Denver Colorado: Rob, Sara, Kellyn, Jane, Kate, Timmy, Sarah and Ben, Josh, Chris, Avery and Vivian. Rob Dm’d us a few months back and told us that he was bringing a big crew of people to Ödyssey Swimrun Orcas Island to do their first Swimrun. All in all, 22 athletes are making their way to Orcas Island. Awesome…we know! Anyway, we offered to do a Zoom call with them to answer any questions that they might have and we had that call this past weekend. We had a ton of fun chatting with them and we are so stoked for their adventure. They will all do great and we can’t wait for the post-race Zoom call to get all the race reports from them!Feats of EnduranceThis week’s winner is Tobias Rop of Team Max Mockermann. Life was imitating “art” when he posted a Swimrun workout from Bled, Slovenia where there’s a baller lake with a castle on an island that we used in a meme a while back. Look at the show notes for the link to the meme. Strong work Toby.Check out episode 57 of the show to learn more about this awesome team out of Germany.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 SwimrunWe’ve got a short update for everyone this week.In Sweden, the Juniskar Swimrun took place this past weekend and it looked like a warm day out there. Also in Sweden, the popular Ångaloppet Swimrun happened on Saturday and Sunday and it was great to see so many kids racing with their parents. There we also Swimrunners racing in Speedo’s which isn’t something you see every day. (Looking at you George Bjalkemo!)Down in South Africa, Torpedo Swimrun have announced their “Spring” race schedule of Torpedo Val de Vie on October 30th and Torpedo Cape Town on November 20th. They will have seven race distances over the two weekends so plenty of options for everyone.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.UpdatesWe are starting to get our plans together for Sweden and wanted to let everyone know that we are going to host a meetup on Saturday Sept. 3 in the evening at a bar/coffee shop/restaurant in Central Stockholm. Come out and say hi whether you’re racing ÖTILLÖ or not. We’ll post more details as we fine tune them. On that note, if anyone has a suggestion for a location, send us a DM.Team #batmansparentsIt was great to chat with Liz and Jacob. We loved their energy and candor about their build to ÖTILLÖ. It’s always interesting for us to hear Swimrun journeys and theirs is a sweet one. It started as a way for them to get to do events together and now they find themselves at the doorstep of the original Swimrun. We loved this conversation and know that you will as well!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

18 Aug 202255min

Welcome to episode 136 of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!In this show we catch up with Rick Mann and Kris Corbett, A.K.A., Team We Be Family. We’ve been following Rick’s endurance exploits on Strava for years and learned that he was racing this year’s ÖTILLÖ Engadin with his niece Kris. We’ve been wanting to get this team on the show and figured we might as well get a race report for an adventure that is high on our (long) bucket list. This was a great conversation of their epic challenge in the Swiss mountains. But first...Training UpdateIt’s been a while since we’ve had a “regular” show but at this point everybody knows what is looming ahead of us on September 5th. We’ve been putting in the work and have a couple more weeks of building before the taper begins. So expect long swims, long runs, and long Swimruns are in our near future.ShoutoutsThis week we are shouting out our newest Patrons on Patreon. Big, big thank you to Maikal Gaedker, Tracy Sesselberg, Sarah Estrella, and Chris Wright for your support. We really appreciate it and stay tuned for something special in your mailbox as a token of our thanks to you and all our Patrons. Feats of EnduranceThis week’s winner is Victor Rosado. Victor not only posted multiple Strava workouts from Puerto Rico, but his workouts were literally in Chris’s hometown of San Juan and near his ancestral neighborhood of Ocean Park.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 SwimrunWelcome to the LTBz news desk!We’re keeping it short this week because we’ve been on vacation.Since we last had a TWIS, ÖTILLÖ Engadin and ÖTILLÖ Gothenburg took place. Both races looked amazing/challenging/epic. Keeping true to their 2022 world class form, Hugo and Max won both events and are primed for great things at the World Championship next month. Also true to form, and adding further evidence that she is the greatest Swimrunner of her generation, Desirée won the Women’s division in Engadin with her partner Amanda Nilsson and the Mixed division in Gothenburg with her partner Alex Berggren (2nd Overall) despite a pretty wicked fall and faceplant on a rock. Speaking of ÖTILLÖ Gothernburg, our friends Marcus Barton and Kawika Tarayao, A.K.A. Team Envol Spam Fika were at the event and finished in a stellar 10th overall and 6th place Men’s team. We asked them to share with us their adventure so here’s a special bonus guest race report of their epic day. It’s also a mini-master class on tactics for navigating such a transition heavy race.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.UpdatesLooking for some of the slickest/only Swimrun casual gear out there? Then make sure to head over to our online store for all your LTBz merch including shirts, hats, beanies, stickers, etc. As a bonus, merch may or may not have supernatural powers, case in point: our friend Sarah B. had podiumed every Swimrun that she has entered since buying her LTBz shirt. (She’s two for two!)Team We Be FamilyIt was great to finally have Rick and Kris on the show. As we mentioned at the beginning of the show, we’ve known Rick and Kris for a while and first met them in person at the inaugural Ödyssey Swimrun Austin. We asked them to come on after their recent epic ÖTILLÖ Engadin adventure. It was so cool to see a team from Florida and Dallas respectively show up at one of the hardest/hilliest Swimruns out there ready for the challenge. While they were literally the last finishers of the World Series distance, they had an awesome day and we’re stoked to share their first-hand account of a race that has been near and dear to our hearts since we started flooding Instagram with cow memes.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

11 Aug 20221h 8min

Welcome to episode 135 of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!This week we have the final edition of our “Countdown to ÖTILLÖ” show where we discuss our journey to the start line of the 2022 ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship. In our quest to leave no stone unturned, we have Helen Wikmar, CEO of ARK Sports to talk about all things gear (one of our favorite topics) for the big day. But first…We want to give a big thank you to our supporters Ödyssey Swimrun, Frank Paddle, and Precision Fuel and Hydration for helping make this show series possible. Make sure to use the code “LOWTIDE22” to save 15% off of your first order from Precision Fuel and Hydration. Use the code “LOWTIDEBOYZ” that is good for 15% off of your registration for any and all of Odyssey Swimrun’s 2022 events. Finally, Frank Paddle’s new “PRO” paddles are out now! How’s the Body? How’s the Mind?We are both feeling good heading into our last month of training for the WC. We’ve been putting in some big days in the pool and on the trails and we’re getting our kits dialed in for the race. Mentally we are both in a good place. Nervous for the unknown because there’s no denying that it is a big day but we’re looking forward to the amazing experience, come what may.Helen WikmarIt was great to have Helen back on the show to talk about gear considerations for the World Championship. She’s raced the event 2.5 times (one DNF) and has a ton of experience as both a Swimrunner and as the CEO of Ark Sports. She shared with us her best thinking on how to approach gear selection for the race and gave us her recommendations of what to wear. In the end, it’s a very individual decision but over indexing on not being cold seems like the best advice.Just like that, we’re only a month away from a race that we’ve been dreaming about for many years. Thank you to everyone that is rooting for us!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

4 Aug 202258min