Vidösternsimmet 6 km

Vidösternsimmet 6 km

The organiser sells the 6 km as “twice as long” as the Vansbro distance. It is the southern end of the lake: from the start at Toftaholms Herrgård, past Ekens Camping after about 1,000 metres and the floating station at Gyllene Rasten after about 3,500, to the same finish at Sundet as the long races. About six large yellow buoys mark the line a kilometre apart, and a bus takes swimmers from Sundet back to the start.

It is still open water on nature’s terms, as the organiser puts it: swimmers should be able to navigate on their own and handle cramp, cold and fatigue, and are advised to swim with one or more partners. Support boats patrol the course and carry gel and water, and medical staff are on land and on the water. A wetsuit is part of the safety rules, and the age limit is 16.

Six kilometres is short enough that the family can wait at Sundet, but long enough that the arrival time is a guess. A swimmer who shares their Livebib link gives them a page in the browser, with no app and no account, showing the position on the course line, the distance covered and a finish estimate that updates. If the signal from the water drops, the position is carried forward along the course and marked as estimated. The swimmer decides who gets the link.