Ötillö Swimrun Casco Bay 2026

The swimsuit joins the lumberjack’s kit: welcome to Maine, land of lobsters and icy waters where you dive in anyway 🦞. Casco Bay hosts in August the oldest swimrun event held on American soil : the Ötillö Swimrun Casco Bay, nicknamed the "Cole Classic" in tribute to its founder Jeff Cole 🫡. The setting: Portland, in Maine, and its archipelago of several hundred islands scattered offshore from New England 📍. Three distances, one same promise: bringing together salt water and coastal trails in a setting where each island has its own personality 🤌.

Jeff Cole, a volunteer firefighter, lifeguard, and multisport organizer at heart, brought the Swedish concept across the Atlantic in 2016, just a few years after the circuit’s first forays outside Sweden 🇸🇪. Success was immediate: between 350 and 400 teams fought over a handful of bibs, forcing organizers to introduce a lottery draw 🎟️. Since its creator’s passing, the race has joined the ÖTILLÖ fold, but it still remembers the pioneering spirit of the man who gave birth to American swimrun, a story regulars still tell by the water’s edge 🌊.

No one runs exactly the same course twice at Casco Bay, and that’s the whole point 🤓. The tides redraw the route each year: a swim section in 2025 can easily turn into a run section in the following edition, forcing competitors to deal with the unexpected rather than a memorized plan 🧠. The finish for all distances plays out on Peaks Island, while the "World Series" start launches from Chebeague Island after a ferry crossing 🚢. In between, you pass Great Diamond, Cliff, Bailey, or Long Island—so many isolated patches of land alternating forest paths, slippery rocks, and historic remnants like Fort McKinley 🏰.

Three formats take on the Bay: the "Experience" gets things rolling with 9,705 m, including 1,635 m of swimming and 8,070 m of running for 45 mD+, ideal for an accessible, concentrated taste of the archipelago 🌞. The "Sprint" stretches it to 16,930 m: 3,230 m of swimming and 13,700 m of running for 107 mD+, never losing the common thread of hopping from island to island 🏝️. The "World Series", the day’s flagship, extends over 35,165 m, with 7,940 m of swimming and 27,225 m of running for 262 mD+, split into fourteen running sections and thirteen swim crossings—nearly a quarter of the course spent in the water 🏊‍♂️.

The thermometer offers no mercy. The water tops out around 16°C while the air sits at 25°C, a gap that makes a full wetsuit mandatory from start to finish ❄️. The day’s entire logistics rest on Casco Bay Lines ferries: athletes and volunteers ride for free to their start island, while the safety fleet (U.S. Coast Guard, Yarmouth and Falmouth firefighters, port authority) watches over every crossing 🕵️‍♀️. The return to the mainland is first come, first served once you’ve crossed the line 🏁. Living on an island for a weekend inevitably changes your relationship to competition 🏆. Residents of Peaks or Chebeague see competitors in wetsuits show up each summer right in the middle of their morning walks 🐕. The vibe stays decidedly family-friendly and community-driven, carried by island landowners who open access to their property each year so the course can exist 💝.

Once the wetsuit is packed away, head to the mainland to extend the stay 🧳. The historic Old Port district in Portland invites you to stroll between brick warehouses and seafood restaurants, while Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth offers one of the most photographed views on the Atlantic coast 📸. Whether you’re into history or lobster, everyone finds something to do while waiting for the next ferry 😎.

So, ready to juggle tides instead of a GPS? At Casco Bay, the course changes, but the appetite for adventure stays the same from one edition to the next 🦀.