(Lake Vidostern is a 5 hour drive south of Stockholm, ca. 2.5 hours south east of Gothenburg and 2 hours north of Malmo)
(Closer inspection)
Fate led me here for my first Scandi adventure to attempt to become the 2nd person in skins to complete (after Henry Stockholm, a (great?) Dane) and to be first Brit teased by the organisers website suggesting ‘this event is probably not for you’ (https://vidosternsimmet.com/42km/)....talk about red rag to a bull!
The basic blueprint for the 42km swimmers was simple: Enjoy the 'warm up' during the 21km+ overnighter benefitting from the feeds/support of a kayaker then do the return leg (ensuring to make the cut-off times) unsupported save for the check points/feed stations where one has to make the cut-off times. The +plus sign is to denote the fact that a one-way is actually OVER 21km.....I calculated 21,750 meters (minimum) and that's before any navigational errors of which there are plenty in the dark and waves.
I was under no illusions whatsoever that EVEN in an idyllic flat calm, this was going to be one of the toughest swims I had ever undertaken and I have had some long day (s)/night(s) out….(most other swims of that distance are not races but ones where you go for a few days/week and pick the most propitious day(s)).
Anyway, each of the 42km aspirants were put into groups of 2-3 on the basis of average km times. I guessed 3km per hour on my form and was thus paired with Marcel Poodt from the Netherlands who I had never met before and serendipitously was also swimming in skins but he had never done a stretch longer than 21km and yet was training for the EC in 2025! (We connected and had a quick 10 mins dip on the Friday morning to ascertain speeds - luckily he is a dominant right side breather which would compliment my dominant left therefore, in theory, we could place kayaker ‘Magnus’ in between us and get on our merry way). Turned out Marcel was an ideal co-conspirator for this undertaking. He's a top guy.
The first available slot time of 22:00 was given to 3 wetsuit swimmers and at the launch of a firework plus claps and cheers of the 20-odd assembled, they were off. 5 mins later we were next. We lowered ourselves gingerly into the silky smooth ca. 20c water which hadn’t dropped much despite torrential rain which has been hammering at my bedroom window all day!…..I was so glad I got in slowly as almost tripped over an enormous log that was in the water.
(We were given these fab orange tow floats which lit up and avoided the need for green goggle LED lights. Very neat invention indeed. I am the geezer on the right #204)
The first 5km was very exposed with a breeze blowing SW 15mph gusting 30mph sort of cross wind (from behind left) making it pretty uncomfortable for the kayaker at slow speeds and especially so at our 45 min feed intervals. It was also pretty awkward suddenly swimming right into some random shingle and getting cut up on a 20m stretch of reeds that came out of nowhere but we brushed them off and laughed thru it as the typical nighttime swimming fog of war!
(Pic from the Sundet area (start line) facing north during daylight (the day prior) and, of course, a flat calm!)
Eventually we rounded a little island and entered into the shelter of the first major island on the left as we edged past Ekens camping (5 kms chalked off I thought!) which I had imprinted on my brain as a key checkpoint. We got into a nice rhythm (in the newly-discovered calm) and started to click off the KMs with each buoy beautifully lit up marking roughly every KM. We hit proper swim nivarna where we thumped out the mileage which was no bother at all given our dedication to training.
Between the 1st and 2nd island we were all exposed again which threw the kayaker around and disturbed our swim rhythms totally until Magnus intricately led us thru a gap in the trees and past E4:ans camping area which must have had a stream entering as the water suddenly dropped a few degrees for a while.
Now we were almost 10km down with the long stretch to Tånnö on the menu mainly in the lee of the big middle island but Marcel now began to tire (his whey protein feeds hadn't properly dissolved and got clogged up in the flask delivery mechanism of all 3 feeds) so he actually ended up doing most of the swim on water complimented by the odd enormous looking cookie and/or banana so I had to wait a few times for him to catch up. The water temp, thankfully, was a total non-issue. Had this been Loch Tay or Loch Ness my sense of humour might have deserted me!
Eventually after a very exposed section we passed a buoy with 8km to go and the end of the 3rd Tånnö island in sight with then 7.5 km to go before the finish of the one way (oh only 1/2 of an entire 1-way Windermere I thought). I was impressing on Marcel to speed up with his feeds which were taking too long but it was hard for the kayaker not to drift when we were trying to feed. There was one feed where we had to swim 20 meters towards Magnus as he was drifting badly in the wind. Peak mayhem!
As we passed the bathers beach at Tånnö in the pitch dark we noticed a group of 3 wetsuit swimmers and their kayak that had overtaken us during the night were now actually on the side of the lake. Maybe they were switching out kayakers? Who knows...but so much for charging ahead...the tortoise beats the hare right?….On we went!
Now we had earned the right to be in the final stretch of the lake - very exposed at force 4 gusting gale force 7 but thankfully coming from our (sort of) left rear behind us rather than head on. Feeding off the kayaker was close to impossible....as soon as we got to Magnus for a drink he would be blown 5m backwards from us. It was properly tough. Each bottle I got handed to me got tossed back as he was immediately blown away. I realised at this stage that we were gonna have to really pull our fingers out to make the 7am start of the return leg and impressed on Marcel to dig deeper (his belaboured feeding times were also creating some animosity). He responded magnificently with an increase in pace overtaking me forcing me to catch up!!!
The buoys seemed really spread out now and very hard to sight in the waves (even for the kayaker as Magnus conceded) but we hugged the shore and they came gradually into view. We hugged the eastern bank and could see the reeds whizzing past us. I was really enjoying the feeling of speed and let out a hearty yell to the kayaker telling him how much I was enjoying myself 'I am having such a blast right now' I recounted. Love it when it kicks off and we were having a hoot! Think Magnus was enjoying the challenge (and probs looking forward to finishing so he could go for a pee!)
With 5km to go I realised then with perhaps 2 hours ahead of us it was going to be a tall order to swim our hearts out, make the turn and then self-support into the teeth of a gale force 7 return so it was there and then that I made my mind up that I wasn’t going to bother the safety team and knew the 1-Way would be the finish for me. (This was the correct decision as all those that did make the turn retired). Quite a relief really and meant I could get stuck in and just enjoy the rest of the swim. The formality in the now daylight was totally enjoyable.
(Baseline force 4 gusting 7. Thanks for coming. It got even worse on the Sunday!)
Anyway, Magnus hailed ‘just 3 kms to go boys’ in brilliant English! Despite having just passed buoy number 4 (which I of course questioned but he was insistent it was just 3km to go)….we held our pace beautifully (without feeds) and the final stretch came into view….with 300m to go I still couldn’t make out many people on land given the waves, I could barely see out of my right eye (goggle suction) and my right under-arm area was agonisingly raw from chafe (all the Vaseline had worn off).
Then we noticed a few other finishers and we had caught up with the group of 3 who went off 5 mins before us and they were walking the final 150m in the shallows to the finish…..I shook Marcel’s hand (with a nod of mutual respect) and the timer stopped at 8 hours 22 mins. 3rd in skins and 6/14 overall in a very high quality field swimming mainly in the windy darkness. (It's worth me mentioning at this juncture that not only did Marcel finish the one-way, he managed to turn with the main event at 7am (unlike me) so he only had 40mins rest and made if as far as E4:ans on his return (over 35km into a massive headwind) before he was pulled due to the cut-off times. Respect mate - you are defo ready to take on the EC.
(Might need to zoom in to see the results)
Magnus was so proud of us and (not unlike a few people in recent weeks) declared me ‘officially insane’ as we shook hands. In excesss of 550km of training YTD (on top of a demanding full-time job) plus a 50km an altitude camp at 1800m in Livigno, Italy, a 24 km weekend, 3 lots of 100x100m interval timed sessions, and an 8 mile in 8 hour event had paid off! Never felt tired or empty once.
(Jack Hawkins in 'The Cruel Sea' impersonation (for older film buffs!))
Our younger daughter, Issy, (now 20 yrs old and my executive chauffeur for the week as only need to be >19 to drive the hire car) scooped me up and we returned to our lovely Airbnb in Tånnö for a well earned rest. (She's off to study in Stockholm Uni now for her year 3 abroad so this week gave her a small taster of what is to come when she returns solo in 2 weeks time.
Further musings/consiuderations
+The water is divine and makes your skin silky soft afterwards- I have swum in clearer still water (Tahoe or our local lake at St Andrews in Kent) but nothing leaves your skin feeling as conditioned as this. Most of the way it was 19-20c which is perfect for me
+The area around Värnamo (pronounced var-na-mower (!)) breathtakingly stunning and peaceful. Really opened up my eyes and for someone who prefers non-sea freshwater swimming, nature and basics in life with grilling out, this place is right up my strasse and if came here on hols could go to a different lake every day of the month.
+The briefings/organisation for this must make the D-Day landings seem like a spur-of-the-moment decision but the organisers led by Christer Ringholm deserve special praise especially in the gale of this year
+When I finished there were 2 charming young men offering me various types of food and a sit in a warm tent (I politely declined both as just wanted to go home for a shower and kip). The area even had nice loos with hot water and changing areas. Sweden just does these basic things so well.
+There was loads of parking and plenty of (free) places down the lake to spectate or swim.
+We found the best restaurant in town to be the Italian (D8) which was good value and had reasonable portions. We stayed at an Airbnb in Tånnö and would defo stay there again. Supermarkets were very similar to U.K. prices. We hired a car (Kia EV6) from Stockholm airport which was maybe £450 for the week including 2 drivers and insurances plus there were loads of charging points along the route. Issy drove over 1200KMs and I’d be surprised if we spent over £100 on our 3 charges when petrol would have been at least 50% higher. Our Airbnb had a cheap (but slow) 2.5KW charger which was fine overnight.
+Feeds of small new cooked potatoes with loads of salt complimented by 250ml feeds of heavily diluted maltodextrin with orange squash were perfect (similar to Lake Taupo in 2023 - see prior blog). Never got the chance to try the flat coke or snickers bars I had cached for the return leg. Probs worked by way thru the better part of 500g of salty potatoes...lol
-Earliest set off time was 10pm. We didn’t hang around but would have preferred a 9pm off with 1 out of daylight before darkness blanketed.
I got very lucky being paired up with Marcel (and kayaker Magnus). I’d very happily swim with them again any day of the week/year. Not everyone was so lucky. I heard a story (not confirmed personally) that a group of 3 set off and the fastest swimmer hared off with the kayaker leaving the slower 2 to fend for themselves. Not sure if/when they fed. I noticed one of them retired from the one way on the results page. The other tbf fair is a very accomplished swimmer and was the other one that did it in a basic costume but in 7 hours!! Imagine how terrifying that would be tho' for the better part of 21 km in the dark = fecking terrifying!! At the Teams meeting on the Monday of the race we were all told to stay within 10 meters of each other at all times otherwise we would be disqualified.....not sure why this swimmer wasn't disqualified if the story were to be true.
-We set up for the swim in twilight. The start area was quite chaotic and hard to work out what to put where. No pens to fill out liability forms or feed bags. It came together in the end but some of the snafu could have been avoided with a hands-on greeting.
The only time the midges came out (all holiday) was hanging around at the start area. Worth spraying legs with bug spray in this area if wearing shorts.
Finally, the distance between the buoys (mainly for the return leg) and cut off times to make the various feeding stations (3 of the 5 are on land and you'll need to exit the water to feed). Will need to zoom in:
Pay good money to create panda eyes like this!
(Special thanks to 2 swim buddies Kate Forgione (keeping people honest @ winter time swims at Charlton Lido) and Tony Ross (endured many hours of my summer lake sessions at St Andrews Lakes) which meant I didn't thrash around solo all the time. Also Kate recommended some brilliant (Aussie brand) goggles which I swear by now for open water! They even deliver to the UK and don't break the bank. Check them: https://fiski.com.au/product/fiski-flyers-bumblebee/
