Meet Envol Swimrun: The Energetic Global Swimrun Team With Hundreds Of Members
Envol Swimrun is fronted by husband and wife team, Nicolas Remirez and Catarina Remires Axelsson. They are humble, hard-working and ambitious and it was a great pleasure to hear from them. The pair are based in Stockholm, Sweden but run an international business which is doing many innovative things (more on that later).
Nicolas has a glittering swimrun record with 27 podiums and 6 World Championship finishes. Catarina is a journalist, photographer, who has done a few swimrun races in between kids and knee surgery but mostly enjoys the sport as a way to be in nature. In many ways, they are the perfect team!
When not working, training or swimrunning. You will find them both playing in the forest with the kids, skiing, drinking wine in the sun and completing crosswords (in French of course). Content warning, there is lots of blue in this article!
How did you both discover swimrun?
Nicolas discovered swimrun in 2014, when he met Daniel Hansson (then World Champion) in 2014 who introduced him to the sport. Fast forward a year, and he was racing the ÖTILLÖ World Championship with friend Julian Dent, finishing third. Catarina had heard about ÖTILLÖ when the race was new but brushed it off as some extreme race for a few crazy people. Little did she know!
Do you have a favourite swimrun race?
Nicolas likes the ÖTILLÖ Isle of Scilly course, but it perhaps has a bit too much swimming ratio. Some races like Folkhälsan Swimrun Solvall or ÖTILLÖ Utö are really amazing with their landscape and the great ratio of running/swimming.
Do you have a secret lifestyle tip? For example, always in bed at 9pm.
No. No secrets. But the tip would be to try to have fun! Involve your family so you don’t need to choose one or the other. Don’t make excuses, prioritise.
How much of your own training do you both do a week (not coaching!)?
Catarina trains pretty much every day and discovered crossfit a couple of years ago and dedicates around three days a week for that. The other days she runs and on occasions swims (preferably not in the pool). In a similar vein, Nicolas runs every day and tries to do some crossfit 2-3 times a week. During spring and summer, he swims in the open water as much as he can.
Envol Swimrun. ‘The Blue Nation’, a hub of enthusiastic swimrunners and often seen at races. Can anyone join?
We have all sorts of people, world champions and absolute beginners. Some join mostly for the community, others to get the best coaching available.
How much time have you put into developing the Envol Training Plans?
It is fair to say Nicolas is somewhat of a perfectionist and puts in many long hours and then keeps working on it! There are always some sessions to improve, some progressions to make smoother or some details to add to implement the plans. It is a never ending process.
How important is the community element for Envol’s mission?
For Catarina, community is everything. Swimrun is a team sport (even if you can race solo nowadays). Most of our over 200 members are very active in our chat groups and discussions about gear, races, training and partners are constantly ongoing.
Why are you looking to launch the ‘tinder’ for swimrun?
We see the need! Nicolas spends many hours every week trying to match people. Before every big race there are always a bunch of people – team members and others – that contact me in desperate search for “the one”.
We’re also doing it to improve our services overall for our members and the general swimrun population. More swimrunners that find a good partner to train and race with – more happy swimrunners that keep growing this great sport.
The “Tinder” feature will be the first one. We have plenty of ideas of what should come next. One thing is sure, every feature will have the goal to grow the sport of swimrun, making it more accessible for more people!
We had the idea for a long time but are trying to realise it now together with the Ukrainian software development company Vilmate. We were in contact with them even before the war and have stayed in contact since. Many of their family members have fled the country but most of the staff keep working even if it isn’t quite business as usual. We know that quite a bit of the money they make goes to support the defence for their country, as well as support for family members abroad.
The idea of crowdfunding has been suggested to us before. When we decided to do this with Vilmate it really made sense. Link to the crowdfunding campaign here.
What is your favourite piece of equipment and why?
Both are pull buoy super fans. For Nicolas, the pull buoy is his favourite one. I swim so much faster with a pull buoy and I find it so much more fun.
Catarina also loves the pull buoy. Swimming with shoes without is a real “drag”! A good pull buoy also serves as a decent liferaft when you’ve been swimming for a long time in rough seas and just need a break!
What do you think the future of the sport will hold? Big as a triathlon one day?
Swimrun will never be like a triathlon, probably never as big either. We prefer to compare swimrun with surfing or trail running. Competing is optional. Swimrun is more about lifestyle, a longing for adventure, challenges and connection with nature.
Who ever asked their friends to go for a long triathlon on Sunday. Or let’s plan a triathlon adventure in this amazing location this summer?
Finally, what would your one piece of advice be for a beginner?
According to Catarina, you should find people to train with. It is absolutely possible to do swimrun alone but it is so much more fun to share this great experience of nature with others. Another reason not to be alone is if you intend to do longer open water swims. Swimming with a buddy is always recommended. If you want to improve your skills or feel more confident before your first race, get a training plan made for swimrun!
For Nicolas, the answer is short and sweet. ‘Go out and try swimrun. Make it simple’.
You can find out more about Envol Swimrun here and see the link to the match making crowdfunding campaign here.
