Johan Skårbratt

– Race experience

I have always been into sports and in my youth I trained fencing at a high level and made it to the Youth World Championships. Around 2010 I started running and in 2013 I did my first swimrun. In 2014 I met my wife and we started competing and training more together. After two sets of twins, training became an increasingly natural part of our lives and this year we achieved our big goal of winning ÖtillÖ. Basically, I am a competitive person who doesn’t give up.

– Why do you want to participate in One Water Race?

After my first swimrun competition in 2013, where I got around largely by breaststroke, I heard about ÖtillÖ. Somehow a spark was lit. When we crossed the finish line as winners last year it was more of a relief than anything else. Taking on OWR would be a new challenge, without pressure, but with high ambitions and an opportunity to really test my mental limits.

– Have you taken a similar challenge before?

No, but I am used to swimrun and longer running competitions. I have never competed over 10 hours, although I have run and done swimrun in the dark.

– What are your strengths?

A very strong swimmer and overall a strong and enduring athlete who can break a task into many sub-goals and complete them one by one.

– What are your weaknesses?

I have never completed competitions over 10 hours, but plan to complete some backyard ultra and multisport competitions before OWR to be more prepared.

– What would be your biggest challenges in this race?

Probably dealing with the cold in combination with no sleep.

– Have you been to the Stockholm archipelago and what do you know/think about the terrain?

I have done several swimrun competitions in the Stockholm archipelago and am used to Swedish bushy terrain and wet rocks. It is a fantastic environment and I look forward to exploring new islands, both inhabited and uninhabited.

– What are you most looking forward to, if you would participate in One Water Race?

To test my limits and experience the same feeling I had the first time I completed a longer competition, Kullamannen +66, 10 years ago, where I first experienced the feeling of coming back after a real slump. Now I hope to have new similar experiences.