Drama for NW athlete Rhian Roxburgh and Team GB in Sweden.

*Pictured above left - Rhian Roxburgh with her Great Britain team just after being pulled from their tough endurance race.

Drama for North Wales athlete Rhian Roxburgh and Team GB in Sweden...

Report by Don Hale.

https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com

North Wales athlete Rhian Roxburgh and her colleagues who were representing Team GB in Sweden last week during the demanding 'One Water Race,’ were forced to pull out of the competition along with eight other international teams, due to time delays and freezing conditions, which forced multiple medical evacuations – including two by helicopter!

Rhian, who is a popular and well-known local triathlete, coach and endurance athlete with GOG Triathlon, was selected by Team Great Britain to take on this extraordinary challenge for the first time ever, with fellow experienced athletes Gaz Roberts, Chris Goodfellow and support from Mike Alexander.

They were pitched against nine other rival teams from Australia, France, Canada, Sweden, plus other combined nations teams during a gruelling event that was scheduled to last for about 60-hours non-stop over 5 varied stages.

The One Water Race is quite rightly called the ‘World’s Toughest Endurance Race’ for a good reason, and last week’s event proved to be one of the most dramatic on record. 

It is a race like no other, including a gruelling 250-kilometre journey through the Stockholm Archipelago, combining running, swimming, and orienteering with no breaks for days on end. 

Rhian was part of Team 4 GB, and their final results indicate they completed about 109 kms with a 68% run and a 32% swim ratio over 29 hrs before being pulled from the race, along with others.

The event combined extreme physical endurance with tactical navigation and teamwork, and using only a map and compass, teams had to battle unpredictable weather, cold waters, rugged terrain, day, night, and often in complete darkness. 

*The GB team are shown above hacking their way through the undergrowth.

 

Immediately after leaving the race, Rhian explained: “Eight teams haven’t finished, including six teams that were stopped due to medical conditions. One member of team 10 had a wasp sting and was allergic so went into anaphylactic shock and they were taken to hospital by ambulance.

“Three others had to stop because of Adema and breathing difficulties in the lungs, one stopped as their team member had a fever, and another one was cut short on time, like us, and one couldn’t finish because of GI issues.

“We were told to finish as we were much slower than the winners, but we had an amazing adventure, disappointed not to have got to the point where we were challenging ourselves finished with too much energy!”

The founder of this event Thomas Ogander, later confirmed: “This was the most dramatic race we’ve ever staged. The cold, the intensity, and the many medical emergencies show just how brutal this challenge is. At the same time, we witnessed an epic battle between two of the world’s strongest teams. Only two out of ten teams managed to finish this year, as freezing conditions forced multiple medical evacuations – including two by helicopter.”

 

And the event organisers explained: “Only two out of ten teams crossed the finish line, as freezing conditions led to multiple medical evacuations. This race pushed human limits like never before – with scientists capturing real-time data on how the body endures extreme cold, exhaustion, and sleep deprivation.

“After 54 hours and 21 minutes, and 250 km of nonstop running, swimming, and navigating through the Stockholm archipelago, Team 6 Sweden/Australia claimed victory. It is their third win after previous triumphs in 2022 and 2024 – in what is already being called the most extreme edition in race history.

“Just under two hours later, Team 1 Australia reached the finish line. It was their fourth participation in One Water Race, and they have managed to reach the podium every single time – this time securing second place.

“This is a race like no other. It is a gruelling 250-kilometer journey through the Stockholm Archipelago, combining running, swimming, and orienteering with no breaks for days on end. 

“Only the world’s best endurance athletes compete in this relentless race, pushing their physical and mental limits to bring awareness to critical environmental issues, particularly the protection of our world waters.”

*Rhian Roxburgh and her exhausted team completed 29 hours in Sweden.

 

On her return home to Llandudno at the weekend, Rhian said: “We had the best time. It was amazing to be part of the one water race. Such an amazing organisation. We made a mistake at the start to the first checkpoint. We made it there but couldn’t find the buoy. So, confidence was low, and we lost trust in our position. 

“So, we went back and forth trying to find where we were on the map. Little did we know that we were only a 100m away from the buoy but just didn’t see it. Our mistake at the beginning cost us a few hours. We were moving slower than the other teams because we just didn’t have the orienteering skills which we needed so our map reading was slower than it should have been. 

“We lost a lot of time and knew that the leaders were flying. There is an 8-hour rule, where if you are behind the leaders by that much come stage 4, then you’ll get pulled from the race. 

“Sadly, we got pulled at 29 hrs. We’d covered 75km of running and km of swimming. Much less than we’d have hoped but it was an amazing event, and we all feel honoured to have been a part of it.”

The final winning results: Team 6 Sweden/Australia won in 54 hr and 15mins, Team 1 Australia came second. 

The other results read like a casualty list: Team 3 Swe DNF fever; Team 8: Swe DNF Adema; Team 7: USA DNF time; Team 2: USA/ France Adema; Team 10: Swe wasp sting - analphylactic shock - helicopter to hospital; Team 5: France/ Swe sickness/ GI issues, and couldn’t take on fuel; Team 4: GBR time; Team 9: Can/Aus Adema (helicopter) hospital, teams stopped due to medical. One member of team 10 had a wasp sting and was allergic, so went into Anaphylactic shock was taken to hospital by ambulance.