Jen Schnell: From Triathlon to Ötillö Elite Program

Jen Schnell spent eight years racing triathlon before swimrun pulled her in for good, and this week she joins us to talk about that whole arc, from her first solo race at Folsom to landing a spot in the Ötillö Elite Program this year.

Jen is a Bay Area swimrunner and designer who came up through competitive swimming and triathlon before discovering swimrun through the Rich Roll Podcast. She raced solo at Folsom and Whistler before partnering with Kayla Kobelin at Austin last year, and this season she has raced Orcas Island, Engadin, and Casco Bay, each with a different partner, on her way into the Elite Series.

We get into her wild card path into the Elite Program, how her coach restructured her training to add paddle work and swim volume while dialing back the bike, the mechanics of tethering and swim slingshots, what it is like racing with a new partner every time out, and how the vibe in Europe compares to swimrun here in the States. She is skipping Ötillö this year to focus on Cannes and is already looking ahead to Worlds in 2027.

We also run through our own final Ötillö prep, our upcoming fika meetup in Sweden, and where you can grab some limited edition stickers before the race.

00:00 Intro
01:00 Sweden trip and fika plans
03:00 One Water Race and Otillo 20th anniversary details
06:00 Stickers, training updates, and Oräna prep
10:00 Welcoming Jen Schnell to the show
11:00 Jen's swimrun origin story from triathlon
16:00 First hearing about swimrun on the Rich Roll Podcast
18:00 Discovering Folsom and racing solo
20:00 Solo racing versus finding a partner
23:00 Learning the tether with Kayla at Austin
27:00 Going off course and the swim slingshot moment
30:00 Joining the Ötillö Elite Program through the wild card process
33:00 Training changes, adding paddle work and swim volume
37:00 Race-specific training for Orcas Island and Engadin
42:00 Choosing four races and finding partners along the way
46:00 The women's staggered start at Engadin
50:00 Racing Casco Bay with Jen Spieldenner
57:00 What racing with different partners teaches you
1:03:00 Skipping Worlds, looking ahead to Cannes and 2027
1:06:00 Gear talk, the ARK Wetsuit
1:08:00 Closing thoughts and a favorite quote

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