Vincent Meyer

– Race experience

My focus over the last 8+ years has been getting better and better in adventure racing. I started with 24-hour adventure races back in 2019 and worked my way up to a couple of 100+ hour races over the last years. I have been the lead navigator in most of these races and feel confident racing for 60 hours straight. Racing the OWR 2024 definitely proved to be more challenging than anticipated, for various reasons. I learned so much and gained so much more experience needed for the OWR. In 2025 I got the last-minute chance to race, and learned so much more. So I decided to come back in 2026 to finish the job.

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

OWR is the last real challenge where finishing is not certain. While preparing for 2024 OWR I always told myself this would be a one-time race. But immediately after the race I knew I had to come back, not only to finish the course but also because I fell in love with the format. The whole Olympic village-like feeling before the race, the amazing organization, the support from the OWR community volunteers, media team and race organization make it such a unique experience. The race itself is so much hard fun and passes so quickly, which makes it all worth putting in the hours of training and preparation to come back.

– Have you taken a similar challenge before?

I have done several multi-day adventure races, and the OWR twice.

– What are your strengths?

I would consider myself a fit person that knows how to plan, prepare and execute multi-day team races. I have set up teams for 10+ adventure races (from 24 hours to 8 days). Having experienced the OWR in 2024 and 2025 and knowing what we as a team are actually up against helps me prepare myself and my team better. I can stay calm in difficult situations and learned over the past races how to make the right decisions quickly in order to keep the team moving. I do a lot of cold water training and I am a strong navigator.

– What are your weaknesses?

Looking back on the 2024 OWR I would say my biggest weakness was the little experience in the actual race terrain. The combination of the unforgiving (but most beautiful) landscape in the Stockholm archipelago compared with orienteering maps that differ greatly from adventure racing maps proved to be the biggest challenge. I love the quote “failure is the mother of success.” Experiencing my first two DNFs at the OWR wasn’t nice or easy to process, but I am ready to see it as a learning opportunity to come back stronger in 2026.

– What would be your biggest challenges in this race?

Being wet and in a neoprene suit for 2+ days while operating on a high physical and mental level.

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

Often to Sweden, and in 2024 and 2025 for the OWR in the archipelago. The archipelago is one of the main reasons for me personally why this race is so appealing.

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

The whole experience. Coming together with strong teammates, meeting equally crazy people and the positivity from every individual involved with the OWR. As well as having the opportunity to swim and run through an entire archipelago.