Land and sea

Most agree that Scilly is best enjoyed at a placid pace, but for some, the joy comes from immersing themselves –quite literally – in the beauty of the islands.

WORDS: Agnes Chapman Wills

Unique environments attract unique people, from the mountaineers of Everest to the divers of the Great Barrier Reef. On Scilly, the remarkable variety of our landscapes and seascapes draws many passionate people, from artists to sailors, photographers to scientists and –increasingly – sea swimmers and trail runners.

Combining the final two in recent years has been the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun: an incredible spectacle where competitors tread the trails and swim the seas of the archipelago in a 37-kilometre feat of endurance.

Meaning ‘island to island’ in Swedish, like many of these things, ÖTILLÖ started as a drunken bet. However, the event is now a global series, which came to Scilly after organisers Michael and Mats had almost given up on finding a British location.

“This is a place we did not think existed,” they say. “It is truly a unique place where it is difficult to not get emotionally affected. It is one of our most iconic locations; the trail running is magical, with some of the most beautiful runs we have ever done.”

They refer to Scilly as “the Swimrun paradise” –quite the accolade.

The endurance event is founded on a desire to push – and expand – your boundaries. But fundamentally, ÖTILLÖ is also a celebration of the purity of the natural environments participants run and swim through. On Scilly, organisers work with local partners, including Tresco Estate and the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust, to protect this unique environment.

Each year, athletes from across the globe flock to Scilly to participate, yet a handful of islanders always find the challenge hard to resist; this year, it was Tresco farmer Rowan Nightingale and St Mary’s resident Wez Swain.

When one thinks of sportsmen and women, one might picture intense or single-minded individuals, but not Rowan and Wez. Modest and light-hearted members of the Scillonian community, they keep our islands running without fanfare.

If you stay on Tresco, you will quickly notice that the cattle appear in different fields daily. They are moved before the island wakes up and cared for, rain or shine. If you hear the rumble of a tractor, you know who will be at the helm; Rowan works tirelessly to ensure that pasture and herd are looked after. Yet, besides the discarded wellies on his doorstep, he leaves little trace.

Wez also holds a pastoral role, albeit with very different charges: Scilly’s off-island schoolchildren. Responsible for the school boarding house on St Mary’s, Wez unwaveringly cares for the 11- to 16-year-olds during the week. When home feels far away, Wez is there for support, a patient confidant for those separated by the sea.

Between children and cattle, Wez and Rowan had both taken on the Swimrun challenge over recent years. They had both signed up for the 2022 Scilly Swimrun individually until Wez asked Rowan if he fancied partnering up as the only local team.

“It was a bit last minute,” laughs Rowan. “We only teamed up about two and a half weeks before the event!”

Despite training independently for months, the pair had to get in tune with each other’s pace and style –quite a challenge when you live on separate islands.

“Most of the time, we were just watching each other’s training on Strava,” says Rowan. “Mind you, I learnt you can’t believe everything you see on there.

“One day, I logged on, and Wez had massively beaten his personal best for his St Marys circuit, so I messaged to say well done. He basked in the praise for several minutes before finally confessing it had been a low spring tide, so he had been able to run most of the swim sections!”

The three-day ÖTILLÖ event takes place in early June. The islands are full of excitement, the air echoing with cheers and rounds of applause as runners race past.

“It creates a new atmosphere on Scilly, second only to Gig Weekend,” says Wez. “Because of the ethos of ÖTILLÖ, there’s a fantastic atmosphere. Everyone marvels at the islands and there’s great camaraderie.”

Besides the World Series race, there are shorter ‘Sprint’ and ‘Experience’ events, making the sport accessible to all. There’s even a ‘Junior Swimrun’ event to inspire the islands’ youngsters, organised, unsurprisingly, by Wez (as if his own 30 km run and 7 km swim were not enough).

“I get so much out of it,” he says. “It is just so amazing to see children of all ages participating. It’s not just the local community; the international competitors and their children get involved too, bringing everybody together. We give them old official race bibs, so they feel part of it. They’re the Swimrunners of the future.”

World Series race day dawned sunny and still; perfect Swimrun weather – except for team ‘Buoy Ö Buoy,’ Rowan and Wez.

“We benefit when the weather is a bit rougher,” says Wez. “Many athletes train in lakes, so they’re not used to waves, but it’s definitely something we’re used to! The good weather took away our advantage!”

The race sees participants running the coastal trails of St Mary’s, Bryher, Tresco and St Martin’s, swimming the crystal-clear waters between the islands. But behind the incredible surroundings is a brutal endurance challenge; miss a timing point by one second and you are disqualified.

No such misfortune for Rowan and Wez as the pair finished in 5 hours and 20 minutes. They were the fourth men’s team, qualifying for the world championships in Sweden.

Although celebration was in order, the pair now had a new challenge ahead of them. The championship was twice as long: a daunting prospect involving 60 km of running, 9 km of sea swimming, and covering 24 different islands.

But they also had to get there. Travel to Sweden and the race itself was going to cost the equivalent of a family holiday for Wez, and he simply could not justify it.

“It was gutting,” says Wez. “Having a Scilly team representing the islands in the world championships just seemed too important an opportunity to miss. Luckily, Tresco stepped in and sponsored us to make it possible.”

Practicalities taken care of, the pair’s training began in earnest. In the ten weeks before the race, they worked to build up their stamina, furiously focused on the goal ahead of them.

“Individually, we had aimed to swim around 10 km and run between 40 and 70 km each week,” says Rowan. “Our beautiful islands were the perfect playground to hone and develop our skills.”

While that would seem a punishing enough regime for most, Rowan took on another colossal challenge just weeks before the world final. In typically modest fashion, he has to be prompted by Wez to mention it.

“Did you know he rowed around the Isle of Mull just before the race? How far was it again?”

“180 kilometres,” Rowan replies casually.

Even Rowan and Wez are not quite so nonchalant when describing their feelings as race day dawned in Sweden.

“We found ourselves surrounded by some pretty elite, sponsored teams,” reveals Rowan. 159 of them, in fact.

“It was pretty intimidating,” grimaces Wez. “We felt like proper country boys,” he chuckles. “The first swim was rubbish and I was moving so slowly, but we only overtook people from then on. For the rest of the day, we overtook nearly 90 teams. So although that first swim was a bad start, psychologically, we gained more.”

“Yeah, it was all tactical,” Rowan smiles.

Used to the wild north end of Tresco, the steep coves of St Mary’s and the choppy waters in between, the pair thought they had faced it all.

“Stockholm gave us far trickier terrain,” says Rowan. “It was a real challenge.”

With 24 islands to traverse, there were 46 transitions from land to water to conquer. Whereas some teams would stop to put on hats and goggles, Wez and Rowan took a more pragmatic island mindset.

“There was no faffing,” reveals Wez. “I would run to the water’s edge, shout ‘Good?’ to Rowan and hope that he shouted ‘Good!’ back, and in we’d go!

“We would swim until our fingers touched the rocks and then scramble out. At one point, I started slipping back down the rocks, and suddenly, I got a good shove from Rowan, throwing me up. He wasn’t messing about!”

Rowan and Wez’s camaraderie and shared experience become more apparent the longer we speak, a result of the hours they have spent tethered together on a 10m bungee. Wez tends to lead the way, but Rowan pushes from behind.

“I was shattered about a third of the way through,” recalls Wez. “I remember saying to Rowan, ‘I’m flat out. If you want to go faster, you need to pull me’ and he just stepped it up.”

“The final hill was quite euphoric. We pushed up it and finished in 52nd place with a time of 9 hours 41 minutes despite an initial target of 12 hours.”

“It was a bizarre finish in more ways than one,” recalls Wez. “Obviously, we were amazed at our time as we’d beaten our goal by more than a fifth.

“But stranger still was that when you race on Scilly, the whole community gets involved. You’ll run past a couple out walking the north end of the island and they’ll cheer you on, and the finish line has a real buzz. In Sweden, though, the finish line was pretty quiet. Of course there was support, but nowhere does it quite like Scilly.”

It’s a surprise the pair couldn’t hear the support from Scilly as friends and family, schoolchildren and colleagues cheered them on, and Scilly’s own “Buoys” brought it home. So what’s next for the islands’ adventurous duo?

“Watch this space,” they say with broad smiles.