• Alexis Kardes, a member of Swimrun Team Envol, raced ÖTILLÖ Utö with race partner, Alexandre Dumoulin, and described it as “the hardest race I’ve ever done”
• Unfortunately, as a result of the cold weather conditions (average temperature ~9°C/48°F), and despite battling hard, Alexis and his teammate were one of 28 teams (out of 72) to not finish the race, pulling out after 3 hours and 23 minutes, 5km from the line

Hydration

• In the morning of the race, Alexis preloaded with one PH 500 tablet in 500ml/16oz of water in an attempt to ensure he was heading into the race hydrated. To execute an optimal preloading strategy, Alexis could look to increase the strength of the electrolyte drink to PH 1500 to maximize his blood volume and increase his body’s ability to retain fluid, ensuring he starts the race optimally hydrated
• From the aid stations on course, Alexis drank two cups of tea and also poured some inside his wetsuit to warm him up. In total, this meant that he only drank ~200ml/7oz across the three hours of racing along with small amounts of water he swallowed while swimming
• Alexis believes that he had a very low sweat rate on the day and it’s safe to assume that the cold water and air temperatures in Utö will have meant that his sodium and fluid losses during this race were small. So, a lower fluid and sodium intake is to be expected, however, given Alexis’s consumption averaged ~60ml/h (~2oz/h), aiming for a somewhat greater fluid intake across the duration of the race would still be recommended
• The extreme cold meant Alexis just wanted to get the race done and impacted how much (or little!) he picked up on-course

Fueling

Conclusions

• Alexis faced brutally cold conditions at ÖTILLÖ Uto Swimrun and was pleased to get as far as he did. He tried using various strategies to cope with the cold during the race, including pouring tea down his wetsuit, before the cold and tiredness ultimately got the better of him and his partner
• In order to maximize his performance going forwards, Alexis should be mindful of consuming enough carb, fluid and sodium to keep up with his losses, and the effort he’s exerting
• If Alexis is to face similar tough conditions in future races, he should prepare in advance with fuel options that are more accessible (i.e. don’t require the opening of packets!)