We believe the intention we all enter One Water Race with, is to face a real challenge. Doing so is incredibly hard work and high risk. One Water Race is not only a race. It is a journey that starts in your mind a long time before you are standing at Arholma Nord in the sunrise awaiting your first map. It is a matter of building the grit that manages your brains’ attempts in finding reasons to stop. To make it perfectly clear what is your motivation and drive to push yourself through the whole Stockholm Archipelago. In One Water Race this is only possible with the power of your team.
This year we went deep in preparations. We digested every turn in the 2023 race on all maps, concluded learnings and landed in so many concrete actions for improvement that we lost count. Having the experience from the race in 2023 was extremely valuable. We turned all learnings into strategies, actions and a plan. Steps that would make us smarter, better and faster. We knew we had enough power to go all the way to the Lighthouse.
In February, after months of nervous waiting, we finally secured a spot for the 2024 big archipelago party. But happiness was short as we realized we needed to add a new swimmer to our team. It became clear that Alexander needed to pull out due to family reasons and the quest for finding another team member began. We found Susie, a fantastic swimmer and a genuine team player. We started building a new team of four with Lighthouse dreams. In a race searching for the ultimate proof of HUMAN capacity, we were determined to build and demonstrate the ultimate proof of TEAM capacity.
The preparation coming into this race was one of the best experiences with the team. Laughter, planning the details, getting the big picture, training together, cold recce days out amongst the islands and lifting each other through the process.
We were confident and calm as we entered Arholma for the final preparations, a light nervousness about things that we could not foresee or influence (little did we know what was to come). The days leading up to the race were just magic. Hanging out with the team, packing, iterating strategies, eating ice cream, sharing a sunset beer on the cliffs, talking about expectations and fears as well as chatting with the other teams. All of it organized by a fantastic team of professionals making this crazy race come true.
Physical and mental tactics were all in our backpacks as we with deep focus walked to the startline. We had a plan for every what, if and when we could think of and we could not have been more ready the morning of August 20th 07:00 as the first maps were handed out. We had a plan. It was time to execute.
We had decided not to fear speed, and dare to push early in the race, we knew we had time to reset during the race and help each other if needed. ‘Speed’ was certainly one of the feelings during the first hours. The OWR 2024 was faster than last year. Swimrun with the speed that we all know from shorter races, not 60h endeavors. We pushed to the first checkpoint, still controlled but with a feeling that we were off to the strong start we wanted.
It turned out that OWR2024 had a big portion of swimming early on.
During stage 1-3 we spent a lot of time in the water. Hardley time to get heat up in between. We had the strategy to swim without switching to long wetsuits while still trying to conquer the cold waters across big swimming blocks and we skipped stepping up on smaller islands. It proved to be a good move but also brought some freezing moments where we stood up as a team supporting each other. Robban helped us get energy in the water, keeping spirits high and we stayed focused on our team and sticking to the plan. We started to look forward to longer running blocks down over Ornö, Utö and Nåttarö.
Moving into the night our mantra was ‘courage and focus’, to keep racing hard but still making good decisions. As we moved efficiently over the infamous hell islands, we continuously built on the great feeling. The darker it got, the better our navigation became. We passed two teams and had an action thrilled night with gnarly, fun terrain and beautiful swims under the blood moon. We were full of energy and high on endorphins.
As we managed the navigation well we gained ground on our competitors. Entered stage 3 Värmdö with a good feeling and moved fast between checkpoint 7 and 9. Executing the plan.
Daylight finally hit us with renewed energy and we set out a focus for the day to stay on plan. Being focused in transitions, keep moving steady and keep fueling accordingly. Day 2 took us far out in the archipelago and we enjoyed true Swimrun terrain, actually having a real good time. Everyone in the team was in good condition with no big problems jet to fight.
A long and cold swim put us in a bad state, but still with a mental game of moving forward. Running along Fjärdlång Marikas breathing was bad, but we moved fast on the fantastic trail. This was at the same time the highlight of the race, such beauty, and also the start of the end for team 4.
36h into the race we reached the cliffs, looking over towards Ornö. A 4000m swim was ahead and Robban met us ready to gear up as the temperature was dropping with the sun. We got ready with a fast change of wetsuits and eating a warm meal.
We instantly felt that something was wrong as it turned out to be hard to breathe while swimming. First action was to enter a small cliff, light up the clothing a bit and we tried again, short sets of swimming to get into the rhythm again, this worked well and we worked our way towards Ornö. Susie powering harder than ever to make this 4000m be done as soon as possible. Marika and Fredrik having mental fights with breathing and cold. Robban was in a tough state of finding ways to help us. At the halfway mark Robban served warm drinks and energy and we assured each other of the great work and deep digging we were going through at the moment. Now all we want and need is to put solid ground under our feet.
After a painful hour in the water we stepped up on Stora Penningholmen. We stayed true to our plan, keeping focus on actions and solutions. We need to eat, get warm and keep going. Only 2000m to go and then we have a lot of running before the next long long push in the water. Medics arrive and we’re realizing that we’re dealing with a severe medical situation recognized as SIPE.
The decision to quit was the only decision we could make, but the decision was not easy. Together with the medics we finally concluded a team decision to pull out. It was painful but the only thing to do. We were out of the race we dreamt of, putting all our energy and dedication into for such a long time. We had a plan and we executed on it. We did everything we set out. In preparations, in team work, navigation and strategy. To end a race like this when doing so well is at the same time a consolation and a hard punch in your face.
To quit was not a part of our plan but this time grit was not enough.
