Signing up for One Water Race meant we were all going to prepare for and do something we had never done before. There is a lot to consider when preparing for this race — nutrition, gear, cold, orienteering, emotions — and also finding the time to do it between family and work… For all of us, the training was much more focused on longer distances and sustained effort. We had our given roles in the team, meaning we needed different individual preparation. Lars and Nicolas focused more on orienteering and navigation. Desirée added more paddles to her swim sessions to make sure she was as strong as possible to help the lead swimmer, Hugo.
As a team, we did a 24-hour multisport race with some orienteering and with the purpose of testing our nutrition plan. This was the first time any of us had done such a long race. It was definitely good for team building, and we enjoyed trying new things and experiencing an adventure together. It also gave us some confidence — and of course a few things to work on in the coming months.
Later in the summer, we did a 3-day training camp together in the archipelago where we could explore more, prepare our strategy, and set up for the race. This was when we really started to feel we were getting closer to the big day.
Throughout the year, we all had moments of ups and downs regarding the race and the preparation. It is not easy when you have setbacks like illness or injury and know how it could affect the whole team. It puts a lot of pressure on you, even if it is not your teammates but yourself who carries the burden. We tried our best to communicate with each other in those situations, even though we were located in different countries and cities. It was important for us to make each other aware of our fears and doubts so we could help each other in the best way possible.
The weeks leading up to the race, we all made our own preparations and could really feel the nerves. When we gathered in Stockholm, there wasn’t much more to do — what was done was done. It felt great meeting the team and all the other teams before the race to get into the right spirit. We had a positive feeling and atmosphere within the team, actually a lot more relaxed than expected. Hanging out at Arholma was a nice buildup to the race.
On race day, we were all excited to finally start the adventure we had been preparing for the entire year. The first minutes were a bit stressful, even though we had talked everything through beforehand. We knew the other teams would be fast, but it was still stressful to hear them take off. Lars reminded us to stay calm and focused. Nicolas, making his way back to the boat, really felt his heart rate at an all-time high. The first minutes of running were stressful with the other teams around us, and we made a small orienteering mistake right away because of it. Once we got through the first five minutes, we settled into our pace and it felt better.
We had a slightly worse route choice at the beginning of the race (heading to CP1), which slowed our progress more than expected, notably due to misjudging how bad the swimming conditions were. However, this helped us understand early in the race that we should prioritize running legs, which helped us catch up with the front pack as we moved toward CP3. This was when we started to feel like we were really getting into the race, doing our own thing, and starting to enjoy it. Running on Blidö and Yxlan suited us well, and we got closer and closer to the leading team. Of course, we had a great feeling at that time, entering the water after Yxlan and realizing that Team 6 had just entered — we had caught up with them. The next run, up to the following checkpoint, when we were fighting neck and neck with Team 6, was a highlight of the race and we felt strong.
Some other memorable highlights of the race were the small obstacles along the way, like the electrical fence that actually shocked us, and the mud that Desirée got stuck in up to her belly, where the guys had to pull her out. Small things like these allow you to laugh a bit. They don’t disturb you — they bring you closer together.
We had planned our first warm meal after about six hours, at Blidö. At that time, Lars couldn’t really eat much of it, but none of us were too worried since the rest of his energy plan seemed to be working. Now, after the race, we know we should have paid more attention at that point. From then on, Lars had an increasingly hard time getting energy down. After about 9–10 hours he started to feel nauseous and couldn’t get any energy in at all. After another hour, he started vomiting, but with nothing in his stomach, nothing came out. He tried for some time after that to get small amounts of energy down, but the nausea just got worse. We are still impressed by how well Lars managed the navigation even in those really difficult moments.
When the rest of the team started to realize how bad things were, we tried to help. When he began vomiting, we tried to tell him to take it easy, especially during the swims, and to rely more on the rest of us. We supported him with navigation on easier islands and continuously offered him different kinds of energy and water. But he couldn’t get anything down. It was hard to see him struggle — he really wasn’t feeling well. At some point, Desirée felt she had to hold him to prevent him from falling and hurting himself on the cliffs. We were getting really worried. We tried to help but felt helpless when nothing made any difference.
The last thing we tried was to put Lars to sleep, and the rest of us took the chance to rest as well. Unfortunately, it didn’t help — Lars only felt worse. After about 16 hours he told us he couldn’t do it anymore. Before the race, we had talked about how to communicate differently when we were having a bad moment and needed support, versus when we truly felt like we could not continue. Unfortunately, this was the latter, and we decided to quit the race.
It was definitely the hardest part of the race. Lars felt like he had given up on his teammates, but at the same time he really couldn’t go on. Nicolas felt guilty for not identifying the real problem earlier. Hugo and Desirée questioned what they could have done to avoid it. Of course, it was a huge disappointment for all of us to not get the feeling of how we would have handled the nights and the second day. We were really hungry for more and wanted to experience what we came for — but when your teammate is in the condition Lars was in, it simply isn’t possible.
We made the decision that it was not possible to continue pushing. We tried to comfort each other in the decision, but it is not easy to find words when we all knew we had the capacity to go further — just not that day.
