SwimRun: a fast-growing discipline

Ready to awaken your amphibious side? 🐸

As its name suggests, SwimRun is a discipline that combines running and an open-water swimming course 💦. Like a frog hopping in and out of the water, you’ll string the segments together at least 3 times, with no transition ❌. Also, you don’t change gear: you run in a wetsuit and swim with your shoes on (sounds a bit impractical when you put it like that, but trust us, it works 😌). Add a swim cap, paddles and a pull buoy, and you’re good to go! 🌊 

Swimrun is most often done as an inseparable duo. You got that right: a tether will connect you to your partner throughout the race 🔗. So it’s the perfect sport to test how solid your friendships or family ties really are 😂. To make it to the finish, you’ll need some serious mutual harmony—no pun intended, of course 😌.

Dive into the deep end with confidence 💦

We see you coming: « But what is Harmonie Mutuelle doing in the world of SwimRun? » 🤔. We’ll explain! Harmonie Mutuelle has been a partner of the Harmonie Mutuelle Swimrun Tour since 2024. This partnership fits perfectly with the Eco-health movement, a preventive and sustainable approach to health, with the goal of promoting the benefits of physical activity by making it accessible to everyone, and raising awareness about protecting water resources 💧. As a committed player, the mutual insurer supports more than 500 sporting events per year to encourage healthier, more sustainable, and less sedentary lifestyles🚶. You too, join the Eco-health movement and do good for your body while preserving our environment! 🫁

The legacy of a challenge born from a slightly frosty bet 🇸🇪

The story of Swimrun is rooted in the spontaneity of a bet between friends 🤝. In 2002, Swedish brothers Jesper and Mats Andersson took on a colossal challenge with two friends: to reach the island of Utö from Sandhamn under their own power📍. 

They said to themselves: « The last team to arrive in Sandhamn, a village located 70 km further north, by running across the different islands and swimming between them, will pay for the hotel and dinner for the others.»

With no transitions, no change of clothes, and above all no assistance, they crossed the Stockholm archipelago, alternating steep trail running with swims through icy waters 🥶. This journey lasted 29 hours, laying the foundations for a radically different sport 😲. In 2005, in the same place, the first official race called Ötillö (meaning "from island to island") was born. This marked the beginning of a structuring that would bring the discipline to the French Triathlon Federation in 2017.

A fast-growing discipline in France 🇫🇷

Today, Swimrun has left its Scandinavian shores (a change from water at -40 😮‍💨) to win over the hearts of French athletes looking for new thrills 🔥. With nearly 120,000 participants recorded in 2022 and thousands of events organized every year, this boom reflects a growing need to reconnect with the elements 🌱.

Now that you’re hooked, what are you waiting for to take the plunge at the Harmonie Mutuelle SwimRun in Paris, Lyon, or Gorges de la Loire? 🤪