ÖTILLÖ Austin Race Report 2026

Welcome to episode 358 of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!

We are here with our final race report of 2026, and it comes from ÖTILLÖ Austin. Chris just got back from Texas, Chip is on a work trip in Las Vegas, and we get the show recorded on the road (that's show business!). At ÖTILLÖ Austin we finished third in the men's team division and fifth overall in 3:09. We won the division last year, and we're actually prouder of this result.

It rained all day, the water was higher than we've ever seen it in Austin, the cliff jump turned into more of a cliff hop, and the trails got sloppy fast. We showed up after some busy work weeks and a sick week for Chris, so the plan was simple: trade swim leads, stay smooth in transitions, and see what happened.

We go through the race leg by leg, from the new staggered start to the last swim of the year. We talk kits, fueling, why we ran the grass edges instead of the mud, a few slips on the trail, and what it felt like when the fourth place team caught us on the final run. We also share the one thing we'd do in the pool this off-season.

That's it for our season. Next up is Swimrun Lake James, a local race that's in its final year unless it sells out.

00:00 Intro
02:00 Record high water and the 2026 season
04:30 Training coming in and the race plan
09:00 The new staggered start
13:30 Race morning and run one
17:00 Swim one through swim two
22:30 Run three and swim three, fueling
27:30 The out and back and hearing we are in third
33:00 Cliff jump entry and slippery trails
36:00 The final run: mud, a fall, and fourth place catches us
43:30 The last swim of the year
47:00 The last mile and the finish
50:00 Third place men's team, fifth overall
53:00 Pool advice for the off-season
55:30 Final thoughts and Swimrun Lake James

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