Vidösternsimmet 42 km

Vidösternsimmet 42 km

The Viking is the lake twice. The first 21,500 metres are swum northbound through the night, in groups of two or three, each group guided by an organiser’s kayak that carries the swimmers’ food and drink. The second half is the classic 21 km, southbound from Osudden in the morning, past Funtabo, Tånnö, E4:ans Camping and Ekens Camping to Sundet. Only swimmers who have already finished the 21 km may enter, and the age limit is 18.

At night every swimmer tows a safety buoy lit by a torch. On the way south, the swimmer feeds at the stations, follows the 22 yellow buoys, and races the same cutoffs at Tånnö, E4:ans and Ekens as the 21 km field. The 2026 edition produced a men’s record on the organiser’s results page: 12:16:32 by Christofer Dahl.

More than twelve hours in the water means family and friends follow most of it from somewhere else. When the swimmer shares their Livebib link, it opens in a browser without an app or account and shows the position on the course line, the distance covered and a finish estimate at Sundet that updates as the pace changes through the night and the morning. If the signal from the water is lost, the position is carried forward along the course and marked as estimated rather than freezing. The swimmer decides who gets the link.