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The swimrun is a team sport based on two people who have to compete running and swimming together. JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / AFP

It's a sport you may never have heard of, but it's happening all over Europe. This is the swimrun, or swim-run. The principle is simple: you get a combination, palms for the hands, sneakers that go in the water, and we go for tens of kilometers of swimming between land and sea, or islands islands . All in the middle of nature and in teams of two. The swimrun was born in 2002 in the archipelago of Stockholm and it is in this same archipelago that takes place Monday, September 2, the World Championship of swimrun, on 75 km, including ten kilometers of swimming in the Baltic Sea. A real showdown.

With our correspondent in Stockholm, Frédéric Faux

" Since we're in pairs we have to be pretty fast and fast enough so we do not waste time," says Diane Sadik. We try to communicate as quickly as possible so that the teammate is attentive and be there for us too. It's really motivating to be two. "

Just out of the water, Diane and his teammate lift their swimming glasses on the front and leave the beach with small strides. Before being a sport, the swimrun was born from a bet between young people who wanted to connect the islands of Sandhamn and Utö without taking the boat. An adventure of 75 kilometers, passing through twenty-four islands. Today, hundreds of swimrun competitions are held across Europe, but the Swedish race called Otillo, from island to island, remains the pioneer, the most difficult.

" It's very hard to watch 75 km in the wild," says Michael Lemmel, race director. There are not many trails, and it's wild. The islands are alike, so it's very easy to get lost. We do not change anything, we put nothing in place. It's really the rough nature and the human being trying to adapt. "

To qualify in Otillo, the riders must participate in a circuit which one of the stages will be held for the first time in the United States, in February 2020.