A nice thing is happening on Hvar.
Famous for its beaches, nightlife and endless sunshine, Croatia’s premier island is becoming an increasingly important adventure tourism destination, with the island holding several important international sporting events each year.
It all started over 40 years ago with the Faros Marathon, one of the most gruelling swimming races on the planet, and one which attracts a high quality international field from all over the globe, including Olympic Gold Medal winners. The 16km open water swim, from Stari Grad harbour to the Kabal Peninsula and back, takes place every August, and it has become included in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in Florida.
It has been followed by other sporting events on the island. There is now an established annual Hvar Half Marathon each August, along the old road from Stari Grad to Hvar Town – surely one of the most picturesque runs in all Europe.
Hvar is also a sailing paradise and is host to various regattas throughout the year, the most important being at Easter and New Year.
In recent years, and in cooperation with leading hotel group Suncani Hvar Hotels and the Hvar Town Tourist Board, there have been attempts to widen Hvar’s sporting appeal. This winter, the island hosted one of the world’s leading cycling teams, Bahrain Merida, for its annual winter training, and April will see the return of a prestigious adrenaline event for the second year running, as the challenging ÖTILLÖ Swimrun returns to Hvar and will hopefully become an established part of the Hvar sporting calendar for years to come. Here is what you missed last time (see the video below):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3QeoBit26gP
This year’s event takes place in early April – full details of the schedule are below.
SCHEDULE
| Tuesday, April 3rd, 2018 | |
|---|---|
| 23:59 | 23:59 Last day to make team changes for ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Hvar (individual names and team names). These changes must be sent to [email protected] before midnight. |
| Friday, April 6th, 2018 | |
|---|---|
| 18:00 | One hour presentation of ÖTILLÖ, swimrun, the future of ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series. Get together with one of the founder of swimrun, Michael Lemmel. Open for anyone, NOT mandatory. Hotel Amfora |
| Saturday, April 7th, 2018 | |
|---|---|
| 09:00 | Race briefing and bib distribution for ÖTILLÖ Sprint Hvar – Hotel Amfora |
| 11:00 | Start ÖTILLÖ Sprint Hvar – Hvar Main square |
| 12:30 | First teams expected to finish – Hvar Main square |
| 14:10 | Last teams across the finish line – Hvar Main square |
| 14:30 | Prize giving ÖTILLÖ Sprint Hvar – Hvar Main Square |
| 16:30-18:00 | Registration and bib distribution ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Hvar – Hotel Amfora |
| 17:30 | Pre-race welcome drink – Hotel Amfora |
| 18:15 | MANDATORY Race briefing ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Hvar – Hotel Amfora |
| Sunday, April 8th, 2018 | |
|---|---|
| 09:00 | Start ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Hvar – Main Square |
| 10:45 | Cut-off – Point Pelegrin, Time 2 |
| 13:50 | First teams expected to finish – Hvar main square |
| 14:00 | Cut-off – Hvar, Time 6 |
| 15:50 | Cut-off – Milna, Time 8 |
| 17:15 | Last teams across the finish line – Hvar Main square |
| 18:00 | Closing dinner and prize giving for ÖTILLÖ Hvar – Hotel Amfora |
For more information about the race, click here.
For more information about Hotel Amfora, click here.
Check out last year’s race in the official video below.
