Gina Ferguson interview on Slowtwitch

ST: How did your Ironman Hawaii race go for you? What were your expectations?

Gina: It was my first time racing Hawaii so I didn’t know what to expect but I was really excited to be there and saw it as a great learning experience for the years to come. I knew the conditions would probably be the toughest I have ever faced in a race so far and in this it lived up to my expectations. I had a good swim coming out with the lead women. I wasn’t very happy with how I cycled. I felt very flat during the race and I struggled with the cross winds. The run was mixed. I felt very, very good for the first ¾ of the run and was able to run my way from about 15th off the bike to 7th. The last stage was agony for me however as I got very bad cramps in my stomach and lost one place and finished in 8th. I was a little bit disappointed as I have always been very strong in the last 10km and so I was saving myself for this part of the race. However my goal had been a top 10 finish and so 8th was great. The best part is I learned so much from the race and I am now very determined and motivated to improve upon those things.


For the complete interview go to slowtwitch

blueseventy becomes U.S. Masters Swimming Sponsor

December 21, 2008 - U.S. Masters Swimming is pleased to announce that starting January 1, 2009 blueseventy will become an Official Gold Medal Partner of U.S. Masters Swimming. The multi-year partnership will see blueseventy become the official swim skin of U.S. Masters Swimming which will feature event signage, presence on www.usms.org, a special member discount purchase program, co-branding promotion at blueseventy triathlon supported events and a season long print advertising sponsor in SWIMMER magazine.

"We're very pleased to be able to put something back into Masters swimming - investing in swimming is something that blueseventy is very serious about. The U.S. Masters Swimming community is tremendously loyal and we look forward to helping each member meet his or her objectives," commented Roque Santos, blueseventy V.P. Swimming and a USA Olympian. Roque, a U.S. Masters Swimming member and Masters competitor continues, "the Masters swimming community has been a big supporter of blueseventy for several years, helping us to launch our 'Nero' suit, so we're excited to support their workouts, competitions, clinics and workshops."

Rob Butcher, U.S. Masters Swimming executive director commented "blueseventy has become a commonly seen brand at many of our competitions. We are thrilled to have their global brand committed to giving back to our membership. Their member incentive program we are developing extended exclusively to U.S. Masters Swimming members will more than pay for ones entire year membership. In addition, their desire to promote U.S. Masters Swimming at open water and triathlon events they sponsor will really help extend, grow and strengthen our brand."


About U.S. Masters Swimming

U.S. Masters Swimming, founded in 1971, is a membership operated national governing body that promotes adult health, fitness and wellness through aquatics. It does so by partnering with more than 700-adult swim clubs across the country that offer swim/fitness programs, promotes information via a bi-monthly member magazine and www.usms.org, and sanctions and promotes pool, open water and virtual competitions. Nearly 50,000-adults are registered members of U.S. Masters Swimming.

go team blueseventy!

Here we have blueseventy's Events Manager, Shawn Lucas, from Seattle competing in the Harbor Lights Spring Triathlon, just north of Chicago.

blueseventy's Roque'n Rollin'

Roque Santos (right), our ex-Olympic swimmer and nero VP of sales, takes a dip in his helix wetsuit with his ex- College roommate, Todd Robinson under the monumental Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Ute Muckel in action

Thanks to Benjamin in Germany, he's sent us this cool picture of our athlete Ute Muckel in the pointzero3+. Superb!

blueseventy nero's torture test!

by Glenn Mills; Dec 15, 2008

When I first took hold of my BlueSeventy, I didn't anticipate how the swimming world was going to be turned upside down by these suits. A day doesn't go by without someone high up in the swimming profession writing, or talking about, how these suits have changed the sport...and hardly any have talked about how they've changed the sport for GOOD.

The most recent comments about the suits express the opinion that they're enabling too many records to be set. The swimming "purists,"as they've labeled themselves, are totally against them, stating that they're going to bankrupt teams and be the end of the sport. Well, as of today, they're legal, being used, and people continue to purchase them. While any article written about these suits is sure to generate controversy, and while we can start a conversation in the forum about the pros and cons of the suits, what I'm giving here is merely a report for those who are going to purchase one of these suits, and what they can expect.

Whenever you spend $400 on ANY swim-related item, you want to make sure it will do certain things.
1) Make you feel better in the water.
2) Make you go FASTER in the water.
3) Last for more than a few swims.

Again, PURISTS BEWARE!!! SPOILER ALERT!!! The BlueSeventy will absolutely accomplish the first two items on my short list of three considerations. Should that be legal? Forum posts, please. :)

Item #3... "last for more than a few swims"... is a big one for many people, and I'm here to give you a report on what my BlueSeventy has been through over the past 8 months. I can hear someone already... 8 months... and the suit looks like THAT?!?!?! Read on...

I took hold of my suit back in May for a Masters meet. I've written about my swims, and I can tell you, the swims were eye opening. I had SUCH a good time swimming that fast again. It was fun... and fun is good... right? I mean, I'm a Masters swimmer now. It's not as if I was going to make any money, or get a scholarship. It was just fun.

Shortly after that meet, I had an assignment that required me to spend 4-5 hours a day in the water filming. The water was competitive-level cold, and I wasn't going to be moving a lot. I needed to be able to stay under for extended periods without SCUBA gear, so I couldn't be too buoyant but really was looking for some additional insulation. BLUESEVENTY to the rescue.

I was in and out of the suit all day... and in and out of hot showers. I knew the suit was supposed to be used just for swimming fast, but the athletes I was filming were pretty fast, and I had to do something to keep up, so I figured that counted. Overall the suit was pretty saturated with water from day to day, but dried out well and was ready to go back in service the next day, or later the same day. What I discovered about this suit is that I'm able to take it off easily, and put it back on wet. This meant I didn't have to sit around in it all day at a Masters meet... unless I just wanted to look GOOD (i.e., slimmer).

Since then, the suit has been brought out of storage for multiple drills and video shoots, ESPECIALLY those in which I wanted to be in front of the camera. I've even worn it for a few practices to see if my current training has been effective. I love swimming practices in the suit because I have a better shot of keeping up with my younger swimmers.

One of my high school-aged swimmers has tried multiple full-body suits, and has found none that he likes. He feels too constricted, like he can't breathe, so no matter how much convincing I've tried to do, he simply wouldn't swim in one. A couple months ago, he sent me a text and asked if I had a set of "pants" he could try at practice. I figured it was a good opportunity to get him to try my BlueSeventy. Besides, I wanted to see if it had the same impact on him that it had on me. I designed a set for him for morning practice in which he'd do
part of the set in his drag suit... then get out, change into the "pants" he'd requested, and repeat the set. When he got out after the second round, I surprised him and pulled out the BlueSeventy and told him to wear it for the 3rd time through. It took only one 100 for him to finish with a smile on his face. He wore it for the rest of
practice, then at his meet that night. This swimmer is 6'1", while I'm 5'10"... so he was STRETCHING my suit as well.

I wore it a few more times at college practice, and for more filming. One of the college swimmers asked for help on his breaststroke, and through the course of working together, I decided to have him try my BlueSeventy. He put on the suit and proceeded not only to swim faster in practice, but also to make the stroke changes we had worked on.

When it came time to order suits for the college team, everyone was wondering which to order. While I didn't have access to any other suit than the BlueSeventy, I at least wanted to allow as many of them to try it as possible. While I avoid recommending suits to my swimmers, I do try to give them the opportunity to test something. On one day at practice, approximately ten different swimmers put on, swam in, and took off my BlueSeventy. These are BIG guys! The suit was starting to show some wear... the ankles were becoming a bit looser, and were starting to fray. Man... some of them have HUGE feet!

Test after test, swim after swim, there wasn't ONE swimmer who returned after his first 50 without a smile on his face. While the BlueSeventy was being tortured, it was still effective. Through the stretching, twisting, and arranging of the material, finally, a tear started to appear in the neck. Now the question was... do I allow them to TRASH my suit, or save it for myself? That question was answered very quickly because the swimmers are ALWAYS more important than the coach. Put it on another swimmer until it finally disintigrates.

I continued to wear the BlueSeventy occasionally for filming and practice. I figured that, at this point, its usefullness for competition had passed.

A few weeks ago, the college team traveled to a meet with its arch rival. One of our swimmers was going for a very lofty goal, and decided he was going to try the BlueSeventy. Since this was a special occasion, an order for a single suit was placed. As sometimes occurs, a mistake in shipping from the company we ordered it from happened, and as the bus was leaving the station, we were without his suit. Good thing I had Old Faithful in my bag.

Because of the rules in college swimming, we had to make sure the BlueSeventy logos were blacked out. I was following the swimmer around before and after his warm-ups, swims, and warm-downs... with a black marker doing my best to cover the logo each time. Permanent isn't always permanent on these suits... but for the short time he was racing, the logo was blacked out.

JUST before the meet started, the new suit was delivered to the pool and my "marked up" suit was now a backup. Since the suit was there, and since it was already advertising-legal, one of our other swimmers asked if he could try it. Now, this particular swimmer is one of the bigger individuals on the team. While making sure he could fit in the suit, which was now stretched beyond its original size, his warm-up went without a hitch. In his individual event, he swam a fantastic time, placed 3rd, and achieved a very high personal goal. It was
great to see the smile on his face as it always is.

Since I never know when I'm going to need my BlueSeventy, it's become a permanant fixture in my swim bag. It holds no special place on the drying rack; it's just another piece of equipment. Because of that, when a Masters friend asked me last week about his interest in the BlueSeventy, and which size he should get, and if it was worth it, I pulled the suit out of my bag and said... give it a try. This particular swimmer is 6'3". He wore it for his entire practice, smiled when he handed it back to me, and as far as I know has placed his order.

The last time the suit has been out of my bag, may have been the last time it's going to be fully functional. In our most recent college meet, the same swimmer asked if I had the suit. I pulled it out of my bag and he wore it for one of his races. He walked around in the suit the rest of the meet, until he came up to me for his final event
asking if I'd be so kind as to zip him up. As I reached for the zipper, it finally happened. After what's been estimated at nearly 70 swims by individuals of many varied sizes, a tooth broke on the zipper, and we were stuck. So we thought. Through some tugging and pulling by teammates, we were able to line up the tooth, zip up the zipper, and get him to the blocks on time. The zipper held through his 50 free, and the suit made it back into the bag.

With some nylon thread, the zipper is somewhat functional again, and the suit LIVES ON!

In my opinion, for those saying that these suits will have a negative impact on the sport because they cost too much... I say it's not the case. While I would RARELY get this many swims out of any suit I've ever used at a championship level, I found this suit to be as, if not MORE, durable than any that I've ever had. Its performance advantages aside, this thing is a great value.

I know there will be people who don't like hearing positive things about these suits. I'm not one of them. Their impact on our sport, positive or negative, will be measured in the long term. As of today,
they are legal and people are wearing them.

We can all put our feelings into the forum about the impact of these suits. As for this article, it's a thank-you letter to my BlueSeventy for hanging in there for so long. I've definitely gotten my money's
worth out of it and... with the zipper fixed... it's not dead yet.

The Moxey man diaries

Tim Moxey was interviewed on XTRI.com in a 3 part interview.



XTRI: When Ironman Wetsuits changed to blueseventy, was that just a change in name, or did things change too as a company?

Tim: Basically, as a company, we were constrained. When you looked at our competitors which were Zoot, Orca, QR, they had all broadened their range. Orca and QR were doing clothing in addition to wetsuits, and I was like ‘I’d love to do that, but I can’t,’ because we had a license for Ironman Wetsuits. And that’s not a label to put on clothing cause it sounds stupid – you can’t have an “Ironman Wetsuits” track suit – sounds a bit silly. So I felt constrained. So rather than expand into adjacent markets, I wanted to go deeper into the channel we were in, which was swim, specifically “openwater” since we made brilliant wetsuits and had a chance to really lead within that area. I wanted to make goggles, swimskins and other products for openwater…but I couldn’t expand given the licensing. By changing the name to blueseventy, it signaled that we’re not just about “Ironman”. Or “Wetsuits”. We make products that make that experience better. And for any distance triathlon. And even if you’re just a swimmer.”


Part 1 of the xtri interview: http://www.xtri.com/features_display.aspx?riIDReport=5207&CAT=21&xref=xx

Part 2 of the xtri interview: http://www.xtri.com/features_display.aspx?riIDReport=5213&CAT=3&xref=xx

Part 3 of the xtri interview: http://www.xtri.com/features_display.aspx?riIDReport=5216&CAT=23&xref=xx

2008 Ironman World Championships on NBC

NBC will broadcast the recap of the 2008 Ironman World Championships on Saturday, December 13 at 2:30 Eastern. Watch Chrissie Wellington and Craig Alexander again as they storm to their titles and endless other stories take place.

Introducing Mr & Mrs Bayliss

Britain’s Ironcouple and blueseventy triathletes Stephen Bayliss and Bella Comerford were married recently in the beautiful grounds of Murrayshall House in the United Kingdom. The couple married in a civil service in front of family and friends and shared a pic with us, below.

We love the cake!
Congratulations to Bella and Stephen on their marriage and also on a very remarkable year of solid results. We wish you all the best for 2009 and onwards!

The Mo results are in!

Well after a crazy month of Movember, the blueseventy-nuun team (called Rubbery Tablets) managed to raise a fantastic $1.870.00 that went to the US Prostate Cancer Foundation.
Here is a photo of some of the blueseventy team towards the end of Movember showing just how far some of them went...

L-R (back) John, Guy, Steve, Trevor, Dean, Shawn, Roque and Seth...and Sharon and Meline in the front not wanting to miss out on the fun! Not bad attempts, ladies!

Thanks to everyone for taking part and also thanks to all who donated and encouraged them!

6th World Record for blueseventy!

American swimmer Randall Bal broke the men's 50 metres backstroke world record at a meeting in Eindhoven, Netherlands last Saturday, while wearing the blueseventy nero comp.

Bal timed 24.33 seconds to break the old mark of 24.47sec set by Briton Liam Tancock at the British Olympic trials last April.

Bal, 28, last month also broke the men's short course 50 metres backstroke world record, timing 22.87 seconds to break the old mark of 23.05sec set by compatriot Peter Marshall. Bal's first world record was taken in the nero comp swimskin also.

Congrats Gina and Luke

Gina Ferguson won the 2008 Ironman Western Australia in a record time of 8:59:24, after having had the fastest swim in her blueseventy Helix wetsuit. Luke McKenzie led all the men out of the water in his blueseventy Helix wetsuit and after dealing with some technical issues during the bike segment, Luke eventually finished third.

Congrats Gina and Luke.

Happy Ironman Arizona finisher...

Here is Marit Fischer in her helix tst wetsuit the day before Ironman Arizona, held earlier this month. She raced on a hurt Achilles and still managed a great race - 12:41. Congratulations Marit!
Thanks to Matt from nuun for the pic.

Wanaka training for lucky Luke!

Luke Dragstra has a pretty good life. He gets to travel around the world, visiting beautiful places while having fun doing what he loves to do full time - triathlon.
Here is a picture of him in Wanaka, New Zealand where is he is based while he trains for his next pro race - the iron-distance Challenge Wanaka (sister race to Quelle Challenge Roth), held in January.

nero comp smashes more records at the Ron Johnson meet in Arizona

Ande Rasmussen loves the nero comp. At the Ron Johnson meet held in Arizona just recently Ande had some fantastic results in his blueseventy swimskin.

He broke 2 USMS SCM 45 – 49 mens American master's records;
1) 50m free with a time of 24.18
2) 100m IM with a time of 1:00:32 but just missed out on breaking the world record by 0.03 seconds

He broke 2 mens 160 + masters world records;
1) master's world record in the 4 x 50m free relay with Mike Varozza, Todd Bartee & Tyler Blessing
2) master's world record in the 4 x 50m medley relay with Mike Varozza, Max Stinchcombe & Tyler Blessing

He broke the mens 160 + American master's record in the 4 x 100 medley relay with Mike Varozza, Todd Bartee & Tyler Blessing by 16 seconds AND the 50m back missed world record by 0.06 seconds.

Pictured above is Ande with his teammates, all in blueseventy! From left to right; Mike Varozza, Max Stinchcombe, Todd Bartee, Tyler Blessing and Ande Rasmussen

Heddi Porter on training with a coach

I have been wanting to train with a swim coach for some time, but was looking for one that had experience with one-armed swimmers. I wanted someone that would understand my limitations and how to compensate for them, but as you can imagine, that's not an easy thing to find.

Well I recently had a really lucky break. I found out that one of the paralympic swim coaches lives in Seattle, and this Saturday I had the great fortune to have my first training session with Kiko VanZandt. We spent only about an hour together, but I can already tell that her work is going to completely change swimming for me.

The first thing she noticed was that I'm breathing too late in my stroke. When she had me practice breathing earlier, I noticed that I got a lot more twist out of my torso, and finally understood what other swimmers meant when they talked about the "snap" they feel as they rotate through the water. Kiko is gearing her coaching towards longer, open-water swims for me, because triathlon is my focus, so getting good rotation is important.

She also noticed that my arm position was off, so she gave me a drill to practice that has me extending my arm completely, both in and out of the water. I'm supposed to pretend I'm scraping the ceiling and the bottom of the pool. Although she said this isn't proper swim form, it will help teach me to reach in the water, and keep my elbow high out of the water.

Kiko also had me practicing flicking my hand down at the wrist right before it enters the water. I immediately felt more energy in my pull, with the extra burst that added.

Now I get to practice these changes and get good at them before our next session. I'm so excited to finally have someone with experience teaching physically challenged athletes working with me on my form.

I'll be doing my first Half Ironman next year, and although I'm confident in doing the distances separately without a problem, it will be key to come out of the water with energy to spare if I want a good race. I can't wait to see how I improve my swim time by then!

Heddi

Joanna Zeiger recaps superb racing season

Joanna Zeiger has had an amazing year. Here she explains the trials and tribulations she had to experience in order to come out on top.

The best laid plans

At the start of the year, I meticulously planned out my season. I laid out Plan A, Plan B and Plan C which were based on qualifying for the Olympics in Tuscaloosa, not qualifying but racing in Des Moines for the third slot, or going to Ironman Coeur D’Alene to qualify for Kona. I did not anticipate – who ever does? – Plan I. What, you may ask is Plan I? That is the extra special injury plan.

Going into the Olympic Trials, I felt primed, fit and ready. I had a great race, but as soon as it was over everything fell apart. My throat started to hurt as I watched the men’s race and by the next morning I had a full blown sinus incident that morphed into bronchitis. I had to pull out of my two favorite races, St. Anthony’s and St. Croix. During my convalescence, I somehow incurred a mystery injury in my foot. It occurred suddenly and rendered me unable to walk. I did what any normal person would do; I continued to swim, biked like I was training for the Tour de France and ellipticaled myself into insanity. Racing was on hold until uber-PT Bob Cranny gave me the green light. Somehow he allowed me to race Eagleman 70.3.

I ran 4 times in about 5 weeks, but I was confident in my swimming and cycling and I really wanted to race there and visit with Mark’s family and my friends. I figured that if my foot hurt during the run I could drop out. Luckily, things went off well, despite the 100 degree heat and 200 percent humidity. I won the race after an 11 year hiatus from winning there. It was very exciting. Unfortunately, I could not walk for two days and I had to take another week off running. It was during this time that I discovered acupuncture. At that point, I would have tried voodoo, so acupuncture seemed reasonable. It worked and I went from pain to no pain overnight.

It was on to Lubbock next. I approached this race much the same as Eagleman – go for it on the swim and bike and hold on for the run. Despite the abysmal conditions on the day that included pouring rain and gusty wind, I felt good all around and posted a PR for myself on the course and came in second. Best of all, my foot felt great and there were no post-race repercussions.

After a week long training camp with coach Terry in Boulder, I had an upcoming tough double, Lifetime Fitness and Vineman 70.3. A 4th at Lifetime and a win at Vineman 70.3 capped off a great month of racing.

Plan I was unexpected, but it turned out to be quite liberating. It forced me to work on a weakness, my cycling, and it also forced me to approach my racing differently. My attitude changed completely from one of being overly concerned with the outcome to one of enjoyment of the process. I was forced to rethink my pre-race preparations and make some adjustments to a method that had been in place for years. I have gone back to races that I did many years ago that were always favorites due to the location or the course. I realize how awesome the 70.3 distance is, and I am once again reminded how much I enjoy this sport.

What does plan I include for the rest of the year? The beauty of Plan I is that the options are endless.

Race hard, have fun.

buy nuun and receive free blueseventy element goggles!

We're fans of making people faster so every now and then we see something that's rather good and we want to tell others about it. nuun has been about for a few years now but recently there's been a lot of talk about it. nuun is basically a sports drink in a tab that you add to your bottle - and it has no sugars. So when you train, you manage calories your way (bars, gels etc) and it means you're not having all those sugary drinks with calories you often don't need - especially at this time of year! With more of the best triathletes in the world using it and a growing contingent of age-groupers realizing that managing their hydration is critical to their performance and recovery - it's been quite the product to have in some circles. So blueseventy and nuun have joined forces to offer you the perfect opportunity to try this increasingly popular (and very tasty, might we add) nuun. Up to the end of November, you'll get 20% off the price of all nuun plus you'll have a nuun bottle thrown in for free. Plus - for every 9-pack of nuun, we'll ship a pair of the award winning blueseventy element goggles absolutely free. So that's $75 of product for only $40! Remember the offer is only available until November 30th, so don't miss out!
To purchase, head to http://shopping.netsuite.com/nuun and use the discount code - ilovemyrubbersuits
For more information about nuun in general, click on www.nuun.com

11 Masters World Records for the nero

In Tempe, Arizona, at the second annual Ron Johnson Invitational short course meters meet, seven swimmers
swam faster than 14 Masters world record times at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center. Two relays also swam under existing world marks. 11 of these world records were broken by swimmer's wearing the nero comp swimskin.

blueseventy's very own Roque Santos, a 1992 Olympian in the 200 breast representing Walnut Creek Masters, walked away from the meet with four new swims under world record time in the 40-44 age group: 100 breast (1:03.54), 100 IM (58.94), 200 IM (2:07.94) and 400 IM (4:32.05). His times in the 100 breast, 100 IM and 200 IM dipped under the records by less than three tenths each.

On the other side of the coin, Santos, 40, was just two-hundredths of a second slower than Wolfgang Jarmer's world record of 29.49 in the 50 breast with a 29.51. He also missed Alberto Montini's 200 breast record of 2:18.16 when he swam a 2:18.59.

The Staff Stache Selection

So now we're starting to see the results of some beautiful (hmmm?) grooming. As we head into the last half of Movember us girls wonder what styles the boys will be pulling out towards the end...
Remember if you want to donate then please go to http://us.movember.com/donate/donate-search.php?type=team and donate to our team called Rubbery Tablets.
To make things a little more interesting, we've decided that whoever donates the most amount of money to our team will WIN A FREE HELIX TST! (NB: please add your email address when you donate so we can contact you).

Shawn in Seattle, above, kicks back with The Avia-tache.

Above Roque in San Francisco mixes it up with his fangs (FYI they aren't real!)

Yay Guy gets some growth in New Zealand!

Steve seems to be ruling the roost at the moment, also in NZ, above.

Chris McDonald in Colorado supports the cause - but will he keep his mo for this weekend's race in Arizona?

Great Bevan Docherty commercial

A very stylishly shot commercial for Mizone featuring Bevan Docherty. Go Bevan!

blueseventy's world record tally upped to five!

Wearing a blueseventy nero, Randall Bal (pictured below) of the United States set a world record in the 50-meter backstroke on the last day of a short-course swimming FINA World Cup meet in Berlin.
Bal broke the four-day-old record with a time of 22.87 seconds, beating Peter Marshall by 0.03. Marshall, also from the United States, set the record of 23.05 on Wednesday in Stockholm.
Watch Bal's miraculous race at right here


Also unsponsored by blueseventy, but wearing a nero comp for the first time, Australia’s Marieke Guehrer (below) ended her 2008 FINA World Cup series with a bang as she clipped the women’s 50 fly world record at the Berlin stop.Guehrer registered a global standard time of 24.99, eclipsing the 25.31 set by Sweden’s Therese Alshammar at the Stockholm stop earlier this week.


The two world records achieved in Berlin brings blueseventy’s world record tally to a total of five!

Yep, you can tell its Movember now...

By the looks of some of the faces below, The Scratch has started....
If you take pity on these guys below, you could always donate to help raise money for Prostate Cancer. So far the team, called Rubbery Tablets have raised over USD$700! Grow you good things!
visit http://us.movember.com/mospace/1851971 and click through the pages to find your favourite 'stache and pledge some pingers for a good cause!

Guy in New Zealand above, does his best to convince the gang to shave. It doesn't work.


Deano from the UK above doesn't know what to think!


Steve in New Zealand is dreaming of the Glory Mo...


Shawn from the Seattle office has it grow-ing on!!

And Trevor is getting his 35 year old mo back, much to his wife, Lee's distaste!

Sam Warriner featured on slowtwitch

A tough sprint at the World Championships in Vancouver gave Kiwi Sam Warriner the final podium spot, but she ended up as the overall champion of the ITU World Cup series this year. She talked to Slowtwitch.


ST: You've had a very solid season this year. Did it go as you expected?

Sam: I did a huge block of base training at the beginning of the year in New Zealand to set myself up for a good season. I worked for four months building up to around 150 km's of running per week, this combined with lots of cycling and swimming has enabled me to be consistent for a longer period this year. I also worked hard on the mental side of my training with my sport psychologist so I could be more consistent on race day. I always knew the Olympics would be a huge gamble that’s why I still raced World Cup’s, as my plan B. Getting 3rd in Vancouver really set me up for a good tilt at the World Cup.

For the complete interview go to slowtwitch.com

Another day, ANOTHER WORLD RECORD for van der Burgh and blueseventy!!

Cameron van der Burgh was once more the swimmer to watch in this FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup. On the first day of the sixth leg competition, in Stockholm, Sweden, the South African star in none other than a blueseventy nero comp swimskin, bettered his own 50m breaststroke world record, touching in 25.94 seconds. On Nov. 8 in Moscow (the previous meet of the circuit), Burgh had clocked in at 26.08 and now becomes the first swimmer ever to swim the event in under 26 seconds. It was the fifth world record of this World Cup, and the third for van der Burgh (he also set the 100m breaststroke world record in Moscow). Furthermore, this performance gave him 1073 points, the best men’s total of the first day of competition.

New Zealand's Buoyant Politician

New Zealand's ACT Party leader Rodney Hide gets some help from his mum as he kits up in a blueseventy helix to swim from Rangitoto to Takapuna Beach promoting the Ocean Swim series.

World records smashed in the nero comp!

South Africa's Cameron Van der Burgh above, reacts after setting a World Record 26,08 in the Men's 50m Breaststroke heat at the FINA swimming World Cup series in Moscow, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008.

But he didn't stop there! A day after taking down the 50 breast record in his blueseventy nero, Van der Burgh etched his name in the 100 breast world record column. van der Burgh posted a swift time of 56.88 in the 100 breast to crush the 57.47 set by Ed Moses during the Stockholm stop of the 2002 World Cup.

Zeiger and Bozzone fantastic in Clearwater

blueseventy athletes Joanna Zeiger and Terenzo Bozzone won the 2008 Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater, Florida in course record times. Andy Potts rocked the swim in a time 21.44 (first out of the water) in his HFS TST and the defending 70.3 champion eventually finished 6th. Actually 6 of the top 10 men, and 6 of the top 10 women were swimming in blueseventy wetsuits. Thank you for representing.

Top 10 pro men

1. Terenzo Bozzone (NZL) 3:40:10 blueseventy
2. Andreas Raelert (GER) 3:40:42 blueseventy
3. Richie Cunningham (AUS) 3:41:47 blueseventy
4. Oscar Galindez (ARG) 3:42:28 blueseventy
5. Reinaldo Colucci (BRA) 3:43:22
6. Andy Potts (USA) 3:44:30 blueseventy
7. Luke McKenzie (AUS) 3:45:11 blueseventy
8. Brent McMahon (CAN) 3:45:43
9. Joe Gambles (AUS) 3:46:23
10. Fraser Cartmell (GBR) 3:46:34

Top 10 pro women

1. Joanna Zeiger (USA) 4:02:49 blueseventy
2. Mary Beth Ellis (USA) 4:04:07
3. Becky Lavelle (USA) 4:07:32
4. Julie Dibens (GBR) 4:09:10 blueseventy
5. Nina Kraft (GER) 4:15:32 blueseventy
6. Erika Csomor (HUN) 4:16:00
7. Catriona Morrison (GBR) 4:16:28 blueseventy
8. Angela Naeth (CAN) 4:16:50 blueseventy
9. Leanda Cave (GBR) 4:18:50 blueseventy
10. Amanda Stevens (USA) 4:20:28

The Mo update

2008 Movember is shaping up to be a goodie! With all the men in the blueseventy offices around the world trying to exploit their manliness, the pictures can only get better, right? Ah...sure....
For any donations, please click on this link and then click on your fave Mo Bro http://us.movember.com/mospace/1851971

Deano in UK sits on day 5 (above) while Steve and Guy in NZ (below) are a day ahead. What's it going to be boys??

Guy's mo on the go!

And then we have Guy's mo today....

blueseventy "Top of the South" New Zealand Adventure Swim Group

Norman Coldicott sent us this picture of his adventurous group of swimmers who have been all over New Zealand to swim in some amazing bodies of water - of course in their helix wetsuits and skull caps to keep them warm in the icy temperature.
He says "We really appreciated the support that blueseventy provide our group. It was a great summer [last year] & some of us visited some amazing locations."

Mo-Moxey has competition!

Here is a snap of one of the owners of blueseventy, Trevor, growing his mo for Movember. This is taken on day 2 and it looks like he will give Tim Moxey a run for his charity money...(see below post).
If anyone wants to donate, please visit http://us.movember.com/mospace/1348121 - thanks!

Nero popularity stems to Brazil!

Gilberto, our distributor from Brazil emailed us the following results from the International Swimming Youth Championships.

The countries who raced against each other were Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Panama and Kuwait.

More than 50% of swimmers who wore the nero swimskin came in first place.
All finals were on TV Live, by SPORTV (like an ESPN in Brazil), for more 15 million watchers! blueseventy had one, two, three, and sometimes even four swimmers in each finals.
The sound is magic in the swimming competitive.
The feedback from the athletes:
“ 3 seconds in 100 meters free!”
“ Uauhhh !! This swimsuit is fantastic, in 400 meters free, I had 10 seconds off !”
“ I make the best time of my life with Blueseventy, in 200 meters free, I swim 7 seconds better.”

MOVEMBER!

Righto, blueseventy and nuun have teamed up to raise money for Movember - the charity that supports awareness of men's health. We've been getting into this for a few years now and have a great time doing it! So what is it? To be put simply, it's a competition of male hormones! Male team members grow a moustache for the entire month of Movember (whoops, I mean November) and track their progress by taking sporadic pictures of their growth, and submitting it to Mo Space on the Movember website. We even have pro triathlete Chris McDonald taking part.
If you would like to track the success of the facial metamorphosis and support our team 'Rubbery Tablets' by donating for this important cause then please click on the link below:
http://us.movember.com/mospace/1348121


Tim Moxey, director of nuun on Day One. Watch this one morph!

ITU World Cup Champion Sam Warriner checks in...

We asked Sam to send us a picture of herself in her super quick helix so here she is kicking back with her dog in the bath!
Sam says after her massive '08 season which ended just recently when she became the 2008 ITU World Cup Champion;
"I am enjoying my break, just sitting on the couch and drinking cups of tea!"
Sam begins racing again soon in New Zealand for the local season.
Thanks for the pic, Sam - you and Bow Wow Warriner rock!

Tom Evans and Bella Comerford win 2008 IM Florida

The weather conditions in Panama City Beach were nearly perfect and Canadian Tom Evans took full advantage of the situation. He had a perfect day himself, beat a stellar field and stormed to a new course record at the 2008 Ironman Florida. Tom's time of 8:07:59 might quite possibly be the fastest Ironman time recorded by a guy who is 40 years old.

Bella Comerford now has won the race 5 times, and her win this year came only 3 weeks after her 7th place at the Ironman World Championships in Kona. Bella also won Ironman South Africa, Ironman Lanzarote, Ironman UK and Ironman 70.3 UK.

Congratulations to these 2 blueseventy athletes and all other athletes who competed in Florida.


Top 5 men

1. Tom Evans (CAN) 8:07:59 *
2. Torbjorn Sindballe (DEN) 8:17:51 *
3. Petr Vabrousek (CZE) 8:23:00
4. Christophe Bastie (FRA) 8:24:41
5. Uwe Widmann (GER) 8:25:34


Top 5 women

1. Bella Comerford (GBR) 9:07:49
2. Tamara Kozulina (UKR) 9:14:15
3. Jessica Jacobs (USA) 9:17:51
4. Bree Wee (USA) 9:26:46
5. Rachel Joyce (GBR) 9:37:50

* = Evans and Sindballe both went under the previous course record

Johnny Nelson goes for his first triathlon

Watch how former professional boxer, Johnny Nelson makes his way through an olympic distance triathlon training and event in the UK. Of course, a blueseventy sprint was his choice of wetsuit in the cool 20ºC water!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00f5g0t/b00f5fy6/Inside_Out_Yorkshire_and_Lincolnshire_22102008

Start watching at 19:25 minutes for this last BBC segment.

Heddi's St Croix Coral Reef Swim

Heddi Porter, who can only use one arm after a car accident 11 years ago, tells us about her latest long distance swim in St Croix.
We arrived in St Croix a week before the Oct 19th race, and were immediately surrounded by warm 89˚ weather and strong winds. The winds had me worried about the race, especially since the water was looking pretty rough at the time.

By morning though, things had calmed down a lot, and Jonathan and I decided to take our first dip. The water was like bath water, and such a nice change from Seattle's Lake Washington, where we did all our long swims.

I was feeling really nervous about the 2 mile swim I would be doing the following Sunday, so I had to build up to going out deep, and got a little more comfortable each day. We swam three times a day, so I had to watch that I didn't strain my good arm, and did a lot of icing at night.

On Wednesday, I woke up to horrible nerve pain in my bad (brachial plexus injury) arm, and later found out it was the first sign that category 3 Hurricane Omar was headed our way. I suddenly had visions of trying to swim
2 miles with overwhelming stabbing pain in my arm, and I also worried that the race would be cancelled altogether.

The Buccaneer, where we were staying, puts on the race and did a great job taking care of us during the Hurricane. Amazingly, when the eye of the hurricane passed, my nerve pain magically vanished!

There were a lot of trees down the next morning, and debris in the water, but there was a chance we'd still be able to swim. I went in the water that day, but didn't like swimming with all the gunk. Later I found out that
you're not supposed to go in the water for 72 hours after a hurricane, because of run-off, oil spills & debris.

By Sunday the water was less cloudy and was much cleaner, so the race was on. Unfortunately, the race directors had to reroute the 5 mile swim because the boats that usually take the swimmers to Buck Island had been damaged in the storm.

That meant skipping the beautiful underwater coral reef park that Jonathan had looked forward to, and both the 5 & 2-mile course went along the coastline, finishing at The Buccaneer's Mermaid Beach.

On race day, the wind had picked up a bit in the morning, but I wasn't too nervous about it, since the water didn't look bad where we were. We got taxied out to the starting point, which for us 2-milers was an enclosed bay that looked very calm. The sun was shining and all looked good.

The water was still a bit cloudy, so there wasn't much to see, but I did hear that some people saw manta rays along the way. About halfway, I saw an amazing rainbow arching over the closest kayak. That seemed like a good omen and reminded me to enjoy the experience.

My pointzero3 swimskin felt great, and helped me slip through the water more smoothly. I was really glad that it wasn't chafing anywhere, and that my back wasn't getting sunburned.

The calm waters started getting rougher after we left the sheltered bay, and seemed to get worse as we went along. The swells that looked like they were pushing us in the right direction had a habit of pulling me back at the end, so it felt like I was taking two steps forward and one step back.

Soon there were waves hitting from the side as well, so the chop got bigger, and I had to laugh at the fact that I was swimming in this. If I had known it would be this rough, I might have dropped out, but here I was doing it --and it wasn't that bad!

The surging water did make it harder and more tiring, but I just remembered the marathons I've run, and how you have to break it down into parts and keep going. I kept focused on the next buoy, and making it to that, and
didn't worry about what came next.

Finally, I spotted the yellow buoy that signified the last turn into Mermaid Beach. It seemed like getting around that buoy took forever, but eventually I was in the bay, and swimming my hardest to get to the finish.

Suddenly, a kayaker pulled up to me and asked if I was doing OK. It surprised me since I thought I was swimming pretty strong at the moment. Then I realized that it was the first time this kayaker had seen me, so he didn't realize that I always swim with one arm. He must have thought I had injured the other during the swim :)

It felt great to cross that finish line once my legs remembered how to stand, and I was elated to have made it. This was much harder than any of my 2-mile training swims and I surprised myself that I could do it under such
tough conditions.

I think the organizers were surprised to see me make it too, because they gave me an award for most perseverance :)

What an amazing experience!

Heddi

John Duquette is almost famous

If you make it onto youtube that is considered by some to be "almost famous." In the clip below, our man John Duquette does a great effort of youtube showmanship as he describes the fine advantages of the blueseventy Helix wetsuit to the Trisports crew. :-)

blueseventy Athletes at Youth Commonwealth Games in India

Choosing to wear the blueseventy nero rather than the sponsored Speedo LZR swimskins, the below Australian athletes are achieving phenomenal results in the Games so far;


Ryan Nepolean, won the 200 free in a new record time of 148.82 - he still has three events to go so very exciting!

Ned McKendry placed 3rd in the same event ( he is only 15) in 151.83 - a 3 sec PB for him

Jared Gold Thorpe, who had already broken the record in the heats, placed first by lowering the record again in the final of the 100m backstroke going 57.1

Bridget Rose Taylor went onto win gold in the 100m back going slightly slower than her heat swim when she broke the record in a time of 102.46

So to date so far;
3 Gold

1 Silver

1 Bronze

3 Records

and its only day one !

San Francisco Swim Across America and Alcatraz Crossing

Check out the cool link provided by Glenn Mills who provides a slide show of his swim in the San Francisco Bay.

http://www.goswim.tv/entries/5457/san-francisco-swim-across-america-and-alcatraz-crossing.html

blueseventy first out at Xterra USA National Champs

Bruce Gennari and Craig Evans come out of the water in first and second place at the Xterra USA Champs in Maui, Hawaii.

(photo stolen off Slowtwitch.com)

nero delivers unbelievable results at the Pacific Masters Short Course Championships

Over the past weekend, the Pacific Masters Short Course Championships were held in Walnut Creek on the 10-12th October. 16 World Records broken at the meet and all 16 in the blueseventy nero!!

Laura Val (age 57) broke 5 world records;
100m backstroke, 50m fly, 100m fly, 200m backstroke, 400m free

Richard Burns (age 65) broke 5 world records;
100m backstroke, 100m fly, 100m individual medley, 50m backstroke

David Gilden (age 65) broke 3 world records;
50m breastroke, 100m breaststroke , 200m breaststroke

Richard Todd (age 66) broke the 100m breastroke

Jackie Marr (age 65) broke the 800m free, and the 1500m free

Roque Santos (age 40) our STAR blueseventy staff member broke the 100m breaststroke and the 200m breastroke

15 out of 16 National Records were broken, and YES once again in blueseventy!

Jackie Marr (age 65) broke 2 records;
400m individual medley, 200m free

Roque Santos (age 40) broke 3 records;
400m individual medley, 200m individual medley, and 100m individual medley

Richard Todd (age 66) broke the 50m breastroke National Record

Laura Val (age 57) broke the 100m free, and the 200m free

Ruth Shaps (age 61) broke 4 National Records
100m freestyle, 50m fly, 50m free, 100m individual medley

Ann Hirsch (age 77) broke the 100m breastroke, and 200m breastroke

Richard Burns (age 65) broke the National Record for the 50m backstroke


Congratulations to all who chose to wear the blueseventy nero!!

'Magic' suit features at Chinese National Short Course Champs

Wearing the blueseventy nero, the Chinese National swim team were elated with their results and shared these with us:
Our Chinese distributor wrote;
"For the first time, 2 male swimmers went under 50s in the 100m free. The 200 back winner had never made finals before, wore our suit, and won the event. Even Olympic medalist are asking for the suits!
The suit is "magic" amongst the swimmers."

The 100m free champion above.

The Beijing swimming team above.

blueseventy athletes out in force in Kona

Desiree Ficker picks up her new pointzero3 17...

Matt Lieto gets his goggles on...


Terenzo Bozzone gives us a grin...

Tim from nuun and Leanda do 'blue steel' with Dean from blueseventy...

Jimmy tries on the new pointzero3 17...

Chris Lieto

Chrissie goes for a quick dip...

Leanda Cave and Fee Docherty catch up in Lava Java....

Fun in Kona

It's Tuesday before race-day in Kona and everyone seems to be in good spirits. The blueseventy pointzero3's are out in force at the swim start area each morning. We snapped some pros as they wondered around this little town that's gearing up for a huge day on saturday.

Terenzo Bozzone, although not racing of course but over in Kona to support his sponsors, gets ready for his group ride with Specialized. Gina Fergusson stops by to say hi also.


Ain Alar Juhanson in his pointzero3+ going for a quick pre-race swim.


Ruther Beke explains the pointzero3 sizing to a friend of his.