The first edition of ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series Malta, which took place last weekend, was characterised by big winds and rain. While most swim courses were protected from the elements, clay ground became slippery with rain and race organisers said it made the race even more challenging.
The sold-out event, with a distance which stretched around the island’s coast from Valletta’s Tritoni fountain to Golden Bay, had more than 200 pairs of racers who covered almost 31km on foot and 8.7km in the water.
French duo Guillaume Henneman and Remy Mariette from Team Head Gravelines Tri crossed the finish line first, less than a minute ahead of former world champions Fredrik Axegård and Alexander Flores from Team ARK Swimrun (Sweden) and Henrik Wahlberg (Sweden) and Francesc De Lanuza Gimeno (Spain), of Team Envol Powered by Head Swimming.
The women’s category looked like a hornets nest from the beginning.
In the end, it was Team ARK Swimrun composed of Helena Sivertsson and Hanna Skårbratt (Sweden) who took the spoils. The latter won the competition comfortably as they arrived nearly half an hour before Team Hella’s Lorraine Axegård and Helena Dalivin (Sweden) who placed second.
In the mixed event, the competition was a stiff chase with many of the top racers in the world testing their abilities.
Similarly to the men’s event, the difference between first and second was that of three minutes as winners Anna Hellström and Viktor Dahl of Team Envol (Sweden) overpowered Ulrika Eriksson and Peter Oom and reached the end at a time of 4:58:50.
ÖTILLÖ Malta 2019 has been the race weekend with the most amount of participants of the year so far – 667 racers coming from 31 different countries.
ÖTILLÖ World Series Malta was the third qualifier for ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship 2020 in the Swedish archipelago and also the finals of the 2019 ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series.
The eight top teams at ÖTILLÖ Malta qualified to ÖTILLÖ, The Swimrun World Championship 2020 on August 31, 2020 in the Stockholm Archipelago – the top two men, top two women and top two mixed.
Two other, shorter races were held at Golden Bay last weekend – the ÖTILLÖ Sprint and ÖTILLÖ Experience, offering the same flavours as the longer, more challenging world series race but in a smaller format.
RESULTS
Men
1. Remi Mariette/Guillaume Henneman (FRA) Team Head - Gravelines Tri
2. Fredrik Axegård/Alexander Flores (SWE) Team ARK Swimrun
3. Henrik Wahlberg (SWE)/Francesc de Lanuza Gimeno (ESP) - Team Envol Powered by Head swimming
Women
1. Helena Sivertsson/Hanna Skårbratt (SWE), Team ARK Swimrun
2. Lorraine Axegård/Helena Dalivin (SWE) Team Hella
3. Linnea Olausson/Jenny Ramstedt (SWE) - Primal Coaching HEAD Swimming
Mixed
1. Anna Hellström/Victor Dahl (SWE) Team Envol
2. Ulrika Eriksson & Peter Oom, Team ARK Swimrun (SWE).
3. Annika Ericsson & Stefano Prestinoni (SWE) ARK/ Swimshop