Monday, December 21, 2009

neroTX Confirmed Legal by FINA

Fear not loyal blueseventy fans - the neroTX is legal for competition in 2010. We received notification directly from FINA a few weeks ago with the good news. Unfortunately due to an oversight by the folks at FINA, our suit was not included with the most recent posting of 2010 approved swimwear. We are working with FINA now to get the mistake corrected as soon as possible.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

NeroTX is Race Ready for 2010



Swimming’s world governing body, FINA, has given the thumbs up to blueseventy’s neroTX swimskin. The new suit features the very latest in modern textile fabric technology, making as much up to the minute technology as possible available to the swimmer.

2009 has been an exciting yet turbulent year in the pool, with uncertainty about the direction of swimwear ruling. However, with suits now approved, swimmers can look forward to 2010. The body suit has been banished, but a new generation of suits is now ready to take the place.

CEO Steve Nicholls commented: “We’ve taken time to get the neroTX right and it’s been extensively tested by scientists and swimmers. Whilst staying within FINAs latest guidelines, we’ve produced a super light weight, compressive, hydrophobic material that repels water effectively and drastically decreases drag.

“Swimwear has commanded a lot of attention over the last eighteen months. We entered the swimming market because we were fascinated by the bodysuit and its exciting impact on the sport. We’ve developed a loyal following and helped swimmers break numerous records.

“We’ve applied the same passion for design and innovation to the neroTX that turned the record breaking blueseventy nero into the top selling race suit in the world.”

The neroTX is made from a unique highly compressive, ultra low drag, water smart fabric. blueseventy's exclusive fabric is produced using a warp multifilament treated nylon, with an extremely thin yarn count. The entire neroTX range is ultrasonically welded, further eliminating the drag that’s created from traditionally sewn suits.

Nicolls added: “We are committed to bringing innovation into swimming and have also developed a carbon fibre goggle that is lighter and faster than any other goggle we have tested. We’re constantly looking at technology from other sports that we can apply to the water to help swimmers go faster. Carbon fibre has revolutionised performances in cycling and triathlon, and we think it will have a big impact on swimming as well.”

The brand new Nero range will be available from January 2010 and a limited number of Carbon RZR goggles are already in circulation.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

The Dogs are swimming faster in blueseventy.


Thanks to our friend at Guerrillacomm Herbert Krabel for sending this picture of his pooch "Pete" wearing what no Dog should be without, the Hydra-vision goggle from blueseventy. Pete requested the down right hot looking mirror lens...Go Pete. But Herbert, we want to know his favourite stroke? Doggy paddle? "Same time next week"
http://www.guerrillacomm.com/

Monday, December 7, 2009

FINA says what?

Much celebration in the blueseventy US office today, as it is Steve's B'day. The other reason is that at 7am this morning, we learned that FINA have finished fiddling around with our swimskins in their tower of power in Lausanne (its in Switzerland) and given them the gigantic thumbs up mark.

So as of January, when the new FINA regulations come in, you'll be able to wear legal blueseventy racewear (the neroTX range).

more details are available at www.blueseventy.com/neroTX

blueseventy out...

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Everyone deserves their 15 minutes of fame.


We received a great mail and photo from Mark Broomhead in Chicago. His friends felt the image of him exiting the water really was a great shot. Friends of Mark, we agree, and hope you do not mind us putting it up here for others to see. Please send us more and anyone with reading this with a great blueseventy image please do send it over. Good luck for 2010 Mark.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Swim Socks get Thumbs Up from Gear Patrol


Check out Gear Patrol's recent review of our Swim Socks:

"Last weekend, I jumped into 58-degree San Francisco Bay to swim across from Alcatraz
and was immediately thankful that I chose not only a 5mm wetsuit but a pair of
Blueseventy swim socks. Blueseventy (the earth is 70% water, get it?) is in the niche
business of making gear for triathletes and open-water swimmers. We reviewed their
Nero backpack a while ago here on GP and were impressed with the attention to detail
and high quality. The swim socks also don’t disappoint.

Neoprene socks and booties are nothing new. But until now, there’s never been a pair in which you could comfortably or effectively swim. The Blueseventy socks are made from thin neoprene that fits tight from toes up to ankles without being restrictive. The soles of the socks have a grippy rubber surfaces for traction on slippery rocks. Though there are only two sizes, I had no problem fitting my size 13 dogs into the large size while my wife’s size 8s worked equally well in the smalls.

The Achilles heel (sorry) of most neoprene socks is water entry. The Blueseventy socks
work best when tucked under the ankle cuffs of a wetsuit but I tried them out without a wetsuit and they didn’t fill up much and stayed snug. But odds are, you’re going to be wearing a wetsuit if the water’s cold enough for swim socks. The socks would wear
equally well with sport sandals for kayaking or rafting or as an added layer of insulation under cycling shoes on rainy, cold rides.

So how did they work? An hour in San Francisco Bay is about as good a test as you
could dream up for swim socks. The Blueseventy socks stayed put for the whole swim
and I exited the water with my feet as warm as they were when I jumped in. During the
crossing, I didn’t even notice they were on my feet - no flapping or sloshing. The last thing you want to think about when you’re fighting current, waves and rogue sea lions are your frozen feet or ill-fitting socks."

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Newly crowned World Champs (Adventure Racing) in blueseventy.


Team Helly Hansen - Prunesco, Using blueseventy wetsuits and fueled by nuun hydration recently won the world adventure racing championships. Nick Gracie sent us this comment.

"Dear all, after 7 years of hard work, some great race results and a number of disappointments Team Helly Hansen - Prunesco (Tom Gibbs, Warren Bates, Nicola Macleod and Nick Gracie) have become Adventure Race World Champions. After a weeks tough racing in Portugal, lasting 6 days 5 of those non-stop and covering close to 900 KM we pushed ourselves to the limits and won what has been classed the most competitive World Championships to date.

In a sport that has been dominated by the US team Nike and super strong kiwi teams we were the first British team to become world champions and only the second European team.

I would like to thank you all for your support and friendships over the year. Getting to this level has involved making a number of sacrifices in order to put in the hours required to train properly, but now the 9 years of hard work has paid off and its an incredible feeling"

Picture shows Nicola Macleod wearing her Helix across the finish line due to the fact that in her last stage swim transition she removed all her clothes and realized she had no leg covering with her. Comfortable in the transition as it is in the water.

Congratulation to the team from us all at blueseventy.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Mavin Makes UK History in the 50m Fly

Check out this amazing swim by Stephen Mavin in the 50m Fly last month - rockin' a blueseventy Nero! 25.04 - New UK Masters Record! Congrats Stephen!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Dibens and Raelert dominate in Clearwater

With the women hitting the water at 6:45 and the men at 6:53 .we saw a lead group of 5 women exit from the water in close quarters, (see video below of swim exit)
Soon after wards blueseventy Julie Dibens hit the front on the bike and never looked back . Julie took the bike course record on her way to a new course record and worlds best with a time of 3:59:33. (First women to ever break the 4 hour barrier in a 70.3.)
Julie adds another world title to the 2009 year, Xterra Worlds and now 70.3 world championship title. (congratulations Julie)

In the mens race it wasn't so one sided, blueseventys own Marko Albert lead from the water (see video below)
Then a group formed on the bike and it came down to a running race with most of contenders heading out onto the run course together
There were some casualties on the run course and the front athletes switched places through the race, All except Michael Raelert who took to the front early on and ran a blistering 1:09 to take the fastest run of the day and a new course record with a 3:34, blueseventys Daniel Fontana took 2nd place and Matt Reed rounded out the top 3.

Congratulations to every-one who competed into today race.
blueseventy

Men's Swim Exit

Sorry about the elbow thats got in the way for a bit.

Womens Swim Exit

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Chainwheel Drive (70.3 Worlds Clearwater)

I've Just been in to See the awesome crew at Chainwheel Drive, our local retailer here in Clearwater.
They are here to service all your race day needs and stock a full range of blueseventy suits.

So if your in need of something for race day or want to try on a blueseventy suit , pop on down to the store located at
1770 Drew St, Clearwater, FL 33755 the team is waiting and ready to help.

Photo of desiree and Jen in the all important blueseventy corner



















Great people and great service

G

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Not ideal Weather for Demo's




















Hey team ,

Well we didn't have the best weather today for the demo's , But never fear i will be back at the beach from 7:30 Am till 10:30 am tomorrow and Friday.


Come on down and say hi , take a wetsuit for a splash and have some fun.

Hope the taper is going well for you all.
G

Friday, November 6, 2009

IM Florida Swim Start

One of our athletes at the swim start , Practising there dolphin dives in the shallow water at the swim exit.

The big news is the late entry of Luke McKenzie, Luke boasts two wins and a second place this year already and will be one athlete looking for an early lead tomorrow. This will be Luke's 5th IM of the year and he's looking very calm leading into tomorrow race. Good luck to all of those competing

blueseventy goes back to school.






During a recent New York City visit to launch the new Carbon goggle and wetsuit line, I was asked to attend an early morning class at the "Business of Sport School" ironically the subject was how Excel is used in the sports industry to set pricing and estimate profits etc. MMMMM, I do find excel a challenge ...lol. Along with Excel I ran the group through the story of blueseventy in swimming and the massive effects on our business the FINA rulings have had, and the impact for the swimming industry in the short and long term.
But what an experience, the 8th graders were a delight. They asked questions that quite frankly amazed me, their business understanding was incredible. I must say to be body searched, bags scanned for security etc, left me wondering what i was in for, but this was one of the greatest times I have ever had in the sporting business after 21 years.
A big thank you for the invitation from the school, and I hope for such an early start they found me stimulating enough. GREAT FUN, Thanks BUSINESS OF SPORTS SCHOOL. Diane Shoemaker and Principle Joshua Solomon, i hope you will invite me back.

Some pictures above would have me dancing to "Saturday night fever" as opposed to teaching.


Dean Jackson (Deano)

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

IM Florida

Well after a wee trip of 35 hours , I arrived in Florida .

It's going to be an exciting week and a great build up, the weather is looking perfect and a few late entires are going to make for some exciting racing. ( Some pro's decided they are going to attempt backing up after Kona)

Here's the low down on whats happening while we're here and how to find us.

Swim Demo's each moring Wednesday Thursday and Friday , from 7AM - 10 AM
We will be right out the front near the swim start,

see the picture below (thats how you'll find us)

















After the Demo's we will be up at the off site expo, Which is approx 150m walk from registration.. not very far.
You can spot us as we are right next to the Massive Mellow Mushroom sign,
Once again i have posted a picture below so you know what to look out for . (love that sign)

















We are working with the awesome Team from Freedom Sports down here and are looking forward to seeing you some time over the next 3 days. If your racing , i hope you have an awesome day come Saturday and best of luck.
G

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The lights go down on Stirling tri club.




Not that the club with perhaps the best facillities in Scotland has ceased operations, far from it. Whilst presenting the new 2010 line of suits to the 200 strong club we unfortunalty had a power cut (Deano stood in front of his suits in the pitch black)

Great, all set up and ready to go, but nothing could be seen. I must thank all the members in attendance when the lights went down, they still had more questions and thoughts, even when unable to view the product. Thanks all for making me so welcome and showing me around the stunning facillities and making the most of the power problem.

How great to have a club willing to teach your children swimming while you undertake a fully coached swim session! I know, amazing. How cool to have a facillity where the oak locker rooms and carpeted floors sit beneath a restaurant serving the best Fish and Chips i have ever tasted (Trust me, i have tasted a few) This is not a review of Stirling tri club, but I must congratulate them on creating an atmosphere never before wintessed. Congratulations to you all, you deserve the very best surroundings, and you have them.

We demo'd suits,Talked about balanced buoyancy, tested goggles and had a great time doing it. Thank you all.
Pictured above is club member "Gordon Crawford" Looking very much like our CEO, must be the side-burns.

Dean (Deano) Jackson

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

DIBENS FIRST TO WIN THREE STRAIGHT




Julie Dibens is a cool cat. She’s calm, collected, confident and an absolute monster on this Maui Xterra course, Julie Existed the water in second place , making the ground up on the leader within 5mins of riding then Julie – making it look easy, started putting more on more time on her competitors with every turn of the pedal.

By mile 11 she had a four-minute lead and was mixed in with the top 15 men. A few seconds later Brian Smith (one of XTERRA’s all-time fastest men’s mountain bikers) rode by and said “Wow!” – referencing the fact that he was halfway through the bike and Dibens was still in front of him.

At mile 15 Dibens was up by nearly five minutes, it was more than that at transition, and when she finished with a women’s event record time of 2:56:42, the finish line crowd waited another seven-and-a-half minutes before seeing Lesley Paterson. She had the day’s fastest bike split, even better than Marie-Helene Premont (an Olympic silver medalist in the 2004 mountain bike competition in Athens), Shonny Vanlandingham (NORBA’s all-time best) and Melanie McQuaid (a Canadian National Team rider for years).

Dibens is the first pro – man or woman – to win this race three years-in-a-row and joins the exclusive club of three-time winners with Conrad Stoltz, Melanie McQuaid, and Eneko Llanos.

“I felt good all day except for that last stretch of the run on the lava,” said Dibens. “I was able to ride in control and run smart. I’m delighted to be up here on the podium again and to win this race three times in a row is really special.”

In the ultimate display of class, Dibens deflected talking about her own race at the awards ceremony dinner but rather praised Paterson, who she had raced against on the ITU circuit nearly a decade ago, and told the assembled masses that this course was good for her and on any other course Melanie McQuaid could "kick my a#*".

Congratulations Julie, Your a legend!!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Congratulations to NZ masters


















Kitted out in there blueseventy neros, NZ masters showed there swimming prowess at the recent master swimming champs


Barry

5 golds

Danielle

2 golds 100m breast, 200m breast
1 Bronze 50 m breast
2 NZ records

shiralee

2 golds 200m fly, 100m fly
1 silver 200 f/s
(2 NZ records)

Penny

1 silver 200 f/s
2 NZ records (mixed IM relay 4th) Mixed f/s relay 4th
top 6th 100 m F/s
Top 10 in 50m F/S
ocean swim xld (too cold) bummer

Russell

top 8 50 fly
top 5 100 fly (nz record)

Bob

top 9 200 breaststroke

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Gear Patrol Gives blueseventy Transition FZ Bag Thumbs Up


Check out the review of the Transition FZ Bag by GearPatrol.com!

Triathletes are, by nature, gear hounds. Carbon fiber bikes and helmets, tri-specific cycling and running shoes, caps, glasses, water bottles, slippery wetsuits and goggles - the list goes on. So it stands to reason that a bag designed for hauling triathlon gear would do a pretty good job for just about anything. Blueseventy’s Nero Bag is a backpack that is as versatile as it is well-made. Built for ferrying tri gear to and from races, the pack goes way beyond its intended use and would be as useful as a daypack or weekend carry-on luggage. The Blueseventy Nero Bag boasts some smart design features. A cavernous main compartment is big enough for a couple of water bottles, a towel and your cycling and running shoes as well as warm-up pants and a jacket. Meanwhile, the separate bottom compartment expands to hold a size XXL 5mm wetsuit with ease. Best of all, this wetsuit basement is completely sealed and lined with polyurethane, so everything else stays dry on the trip home after the race. An outside expandable mesh pocket easily swallows a bike helmet or a couple of thick novels for that long flight while a smaller zipped pocket carries Gu packs or a cell phone.
Some other thoughtful touches on the Nero include a bottom loop for clipping a flashing bicycle light, inside pockets and outlet ports for an mp3 player and hydration bladder and heavy duty shoulder, sternum, and padded waist straps that wouldn’t be out of place on a technical hiking pack. Blueseventy thought of almost everything. The only oversight is the lack of any external water bottle pockets for carrying your drippy bike bottles. But all in all, this backpack is as versatile as the sport(s) for which it was created. Cost: $79

Monday, October 12, 2009

Chris Lieto























Chris on his way to second place at the Ford IM World Championship

blueseventy athletes had an amazing day today

With Chrissie Wellington winnning her third consecutive title
Chris Lieto taking second place overal in his best performace here in Kona
Lucie Zelenkova leading the women from the water by 2:30 seconds.

Tereza Marcel 4th
Bek Keat 5th
Rachel Joyce 7th
Dede Briesbauer 10th

Bracht, Timo 6th
Bockel, Dirk 7th
Jacobs, Pete 8th

All round fantaistic results from all our athletes,
Congratulations to all of the competitors

The team at blueseventy

Friday, October 9, 2009

Kona training swim in the new PZ3

Training in the new PZ3 this afternoon in Kona. All the Athletes have commented how well this suit swims...lighter, faster and a more contoured fit.

The Banner Drop

blueseventy at the Coffee's of Hawaii boat

blueseventy have been present at the coffee's of Hawaii boat each morning from 7Am through till 9 Am.
It was great to see you all out there and congratulations to those that made it to the bottom and won a pair of bluesevevnty limited edition kona goggles.

Below is some footage from our banner drop.... (or attempts should i say)
Great to see you all out there.

team blueseventy

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Day 4 - early morning at the pier in Kona with blueseventy

Early mornings for everyone here in Kona! Day 4 we were at the pier by 7am for the race against Olympic Champion Maarten Van Der Weijden out to the Coffees of Kona boat - beat Maarten and get a new PZ3 swimskin!

blueseventy in Kona for IM World Championships!

Guy, Dean, Shawn and Megan are hanging out in Hawaii for the Ironman World Championships. Our 2010 limited edition Kona '09 swimskins have arrived! Check out the video with Guy and Matt Lieto below to get a sneak peak of the new suit!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Dave's Swim from Europe to Africa


Dave Matthes made the trip from California to Spain with a specific goal in mind - to swim from Spain to Morocco - across the Strait of Gibraltor. Check out the details of his swim below!

"Dave Matthews, Masters Swimmer from California, swims the Strait of Gibraltar in a Blue 70 Reaction Sleeveless Wetsuit. The wetsuit proved to be warm, fast and comfortable even after hours and hours of swimming.
The Strait of Gibraltar separates Spain from Morocco (Europe from Africa) and connects the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. According to the Gibraltar Strait Swimming Association, who regulate swimming across the Strait,
“The shortest distance across the Gibraltar Strait is from Punta Oliveros (Spain) to Punta Cires (Morocco) with a total distance of 14.4 kilometers (about 9 miles). Because of the characteristics of the crossing between these two points, it is not the most suitable course for the swimmer. Most of the attempts have been made from Tarifa Island to the vicinity of Punta Cires having to swim between 18.5 to 22 kilometers due to the influence of the strong currents which prevail in the Strait. The fundamental factor in the crossing is the current, which is almost always eastbound, and can reach more than 3 knots (5.5 Km/h). “
Since the water was below the temperature wetsuit vs. non-wetsuit threshold I had set (66 F), I decided to do the swim in a wetsuit which meant my crossing, if I made it, would be considered wetsuit assisted. Otherwise I was going to swim in the Blue 70 Nero. After 8 days of waiting for the weather conditions to permit and other swimmers to try a crossing, my day arrived on September 19, 2009. Since another swimmer (Marko Rafaj) was also waiting and was about my same speed we decided to swim the Strait together. Marko is also a Blue 70 fan and was wearing a Nero legskin and Blue 70 goggles.
Marko and I boarded one of the two escort boats, one pilot boat and one support boat. When we were close to our starting point, we jumped into the water, touched a large rock outcropping, and began swimming. My first thoughts were that the water was very cold and the currents extraordinarily strong. However, neither of us stopped and we both kept swimming. I also felt some confidence knowing I was wearing the Blue 70 wetsuit. We soon passed through the strongest currents and coldest water and hit the middle of the Strait, which was surprising warm, upper 60’s, and relatively calm. We swam in this section of open water nirvana for about an hour and a half until we were about 2 miles from Morocco.
With about a mile remaining, we began seeing Moroccan and Spanish Coast Guard boats near us. We were told we had to exit the water. We didn’t know what had happened. When we got on board, we were told that a boat of people attempting to illegally immigrate to Europe from Africa had capsized and that they were searching for survivors and bodies. They ended up finding 11 survivors and 8 bodies. The remaining 20 to 40 people were lost at sea.
The pilot boat had to find another place for us to land. After consulting his charts to make sure we swam more than enough distance, he motored down the coast of Morocco. After 45 minutes or so, he had us get in the water and swim to a Moroccan beach. After 40 minutes of swimming, we touched land! The swim was done. My swim time was recorded in the logs as 4 hours and 46 minutes and covered around 20 km."

Congrats from all of us at blueseventy Dave!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

2009 Tiburon Mile


The 10th annual prestigious Tiburon Mile took place on Sunday, Sept 13th in Tiburon, California. After participating in the Waikiki Roughwater just a week earlier, Roque Santos made it out to Tiburon to support the athletes participating on behalf of blueseventy, and to compete himself. Check out Roque's play by play below:

"blueseventy is a key supporter of the RCP Tiburon Mile and the Special Olympics and we were happy to provide caps to all participants and Neros to some of the Special Olympics athletes. The Tiburon Mile has the largest pot of cash prizes in the US for open water totalling at $30,000 and over $775,000 has been raised for the Special Olympics and other local charities!

The beach was wide open and the water calm when I got to the race Sunday morning. I like to be one of the first guys there - especially when I'm setting up the blueseventy booth. Unlike triathlon where athletes arrive days in advance, open water swimmers show up race day ready to go so it's important for us to be there early with some of those last minute key items like goggles, swimskins, and wetsuits.
As the sun started to shine above, there was still a hazy cloud cover over the San Francisco Bay. It didn't exactly look inviting. My mind started to wander, and like most swimmers I started to second guess my decision to get in and swim. But, at the last minute my brother David, who is a Tiburon Mile veteran, convinced me to do it. So I grabbed my Helix and headed for the boat.
Boom! The first gun went off and the elite group jumped into the water wearing only jammers! 3 minutes later the age groupers were off followed by the wetsuit swimmers. The race course goes along the edge of Angel Island and then you are out in open water in the bay. So, when the gun went off for the 3rd wave, I ran along the shore line as far as as I could before jumping in the water. I had an early lead and in the wetsuit, the water really wasn't that bad. Was happy I had my wetsuit and skull cap though!
I started to move ahead of the group ahead of me and got out into the open water. That early good feeling was gone and I was starting to hurt. Really hurt. I laugh now but at the time my arms felt heavy and I had to really decrease my stroke rate. Then I made my first and biggest mistake. I stopped. I had to. I was in pain and my mind couldn't take it. I saw the bright green caps getting closer and I thought I was done. But I put my head down and tried to fight through it. I knew if I kept swimming at an easier pace things would come back around.
Several people passed me but there was nothing I could do. Towards the end I did feel better, but I was really happy no one was around me because I didn't want to have to sprint the finish.
New Zealand's Kane Radford and Australia's Melissa Gorman won the elite division in very close races. I did not see them finish because, well, I was still suffering in the water. But this race is obviously very competitive at the top level and we are so happy and proud to be a part of it and a supporter of all the athletes.
Maybe next year I'll fair a bit better!
P.S. check out the pic of me and my buddy Sean Mahoney!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Brownlee, World Champion















blueseventys Alistair Brownlee pieced together a superb race at the Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship Series Grand Final on Australia’s Gold Coast as he crossed the line in 1:44:51 to take his fifth win of the year to complete an unbeaten season of racing. Brownlee becomes the first triathlete to ever win the ITU junior, under 23 and senior titles.
Brownlee is always near the front in any race and is one of thye few racers out there that can truely swim bike and run at the front.
Brownlee has won 5 ITU races from 5 starts, an imnpressive young man who at the age of 21 is only going to get faster....

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Man attacked by otter in wetsuit



Yes this actually happened, but it very quickly became a news story at blueseventy:

blueseventy announces new otter repellent wetsuit research.

After Sanford Schmid was viscously attacked by an otter in the in Canada, blueseventy has announced it will look into otter repellent features as part of it's Canadian suits for next year.

Speaking on behalf of blueseventy North America sales manager John Duquette reinforced the importance of looking out for the owners of blueseventy suits. "We understand that Canadians face a lot of wildlife threats and we're prepared to take every step necessary to protect athletes, without damaging the environment.

Early testing, using electric shock treatments, a strong smelling rub on gel, and pictures on the suits of bears, a natural enemy of otters, had not proved successful at this stage.

We're committed to finding a solution to this problem, blueseventy feels that otters and people should be able to happily coexist, and that their must be a solution out there. eh!."

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Waikiki Roughwater 09


Our own Roque Santos made a quick trip out to the waters of Waikiki for the annual Roughwater swim this past weekend. Check out his blog post below!
Yes, this was the 40th annual Waikiki Rough Water Swim. The 2.3 mile swim in Hawaii inspired the 2.3 mile start of every ironman race. The Waikiki Rough Water Swim is basically why the distance of the Ironman is 2.3 miles!! A little trivia for you! This years races had the 2nd biggest turn out ever! Almost 1,000 swimmers took on the course down the shores of Waikiki. Like a lot of us at blueseventy, we just don't support the sport we love, we like to participate in them. I was able to jump in and take on the swim in my blueseventy for the 2nd year in a row! I personally love the swim. The first part of the race takes you out about 677 yards and it is typically a rough start because you are going out against the waves and the reef in some parts is really close to the surface. At the first of two orange bouys is the first right hand turn. Then the long swim down the shore of Waikiki starts. The race this year was really nice because the tide was on our side the entire way down towards the Rainbow Hilton. I also like the course because at this point in the race you can see the two twin towers that is your site and I breath to the right and on an up wave, I get a great view of the beach! And by this time most swimmers are set into a pace and I was happy to be hanging out behind a nice peloton of about 6 to 8 swimmers. The water is clear and I did find myself looking for fish as I swam along. Now, the tricky part for me is after the second right hand turn towards the shore. The direct line takes you down the boat channel. But, the issue with swimming this way is that the tide also is pushing its way out against you. So, most people angle wide to hit some waves on the way in! I attempted to do this for the second year in a row. However, as luck would have it, or my poor navigational skills, I took it too far left and missed the waves and ended up doing a big circle to get to the finish.

For me to have the opportunity to be able to swim in one of the most well know swims in the world is a great honor. To be able to race against young kids and silver bullets (aka older people) is a great honor. For the second year in a row, I was 3rd in my age group, but my time was about 14 min's faster! It was mainly because of the current. In fact, Trent Grimsey broke the course record! He was in a blueseventy leg skin! Luane Rowe, the women's champion, also from Australia was also in a blueseventy

Blueseventy is very proud to be a part of this race for the 2nd year and we look forward to expanding our involvement with this race in the future. This race it a true classic! Congratulations to all the participated and if you did not, next year is not too far away.

Monday, August 31, 2009

TBB's Macel Blows Out the Competition in Canada



















We knew in advance that we had the potential for a shoot-out in the women’s race at Ironman Canada this year. Canadian Tereza Macel started the fireworks early with a 51:11 swim, 1:55 ahead of Kat Baker and 2:08 ahead of her chief rival, Belinda Granger. She stated the “swim was lonely…I had no feet to swim off of for the entire swim.”

It really didn’t matter as Macel was just getting warmed up for the fight on the bike course where she knew the real action would take place. By the time she hit the top of Richter Pass at 65 kilometres, the Toronto, Ontario resident had put Granger, who was now in second, 6:22 down as she crested the infamous climb. The remainder of the top-ten women that included Tara Norton, Sara Gross, Kat Baker were scattered about the course, and up to 15:00 in arrears to the hard charging Macel.

Macel, now heading towards the rollers and the out and back at Keremeos facing brutal head winds and heat, turned on the after-burners and started to inflict additional damage on the field. When Macel went over top of the last roller at 100 kilometres, she had blown the race apart and extended her lead over Granger (11:30,) Norton (17:29,) Baker (20:50) and Gross (24:30.)

When Macel hit the run, it was her race to lose with a 15:39 advantage over the 2008 Subaru Ironman Canada champion, Granger, and over 22 minutes on Norton.

Macel put it on cruise control and pounded out the fastest run of the day (3:17:53), winning by a comfortable 29:39 margin over Granger.

Macel displayed her dominance over the remainder of the field here in Penticton as she won her second Ironman in five weeks and her third Ironman title. She did so by having the fastest swim, bike and run splits on the day.

I always wanted to do this race, and now I wonder why I waited so long,” Macel said. She went on, “the crowds were so great and supportive, I was able to really enjoy it on the run.”

At the end of the day, Macel stood alone, and above the women’s field here in Penticton

IM Louisville



















A Weekend of Racing .


IM Louisville saw Luke McKenzie lead for most of the race , Only to get run down in the closing stages of the marathon. McKenzie has taken two IM titles this year (Maylasia and Japan) already and came up with a 2nd only 34 sec's down on
Viktor Zyemtsev here in Louisville.
Mckenzie has had a stellar season to date and will be looking to peak at Kona in six weeks time.

On the womens side it was a blueseventy affair, Nina
Kraft exited the water in first and traded the lead through the early stages of the bike with Maki Nishiuchi (TBB). Kraft pulled away, but was later overtaken by Lisbeth Kristensen. Kristensen continued to open up a gap on the German and started the 26.2-mile run nearly nine minutes ahead of Kraft. Kristensen was caught by Kraft around mile 18, at which point Kraft opened up a gap of almost four minutes on last year's third place finisher here in Louisville. American, Kim Loeffler, ran her way into third thanks to her 3:05 marathon-best-split.

So it was blueseventy one, two and three on the womens side.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

The U.k's hardest triathlon?





So we may have found the hardest triathlon in Britain. No, not a short Iron-distance trip around Bolton, but more a trip around the U.K in a triathlon that measures pretty incredible statistics of a challenge.
Who would undertake a channel swim (22 miles, blueseventy Helix assisted) Lands end to John-o-Groats cycling 874 miles and then run across the U.K coast to coast 166 miles (nuun hydration assisted)?
Well, his name is Simon Moore from Derby (U.K's centre for culture and art) and his endeavor began Saturday 22nd August. The first leg took Simon 15 hours (a little longer than he hoped) and now he has began the classic Lands End to John-o Groats ride. Keeping watching this space and we will keep you updated, but you can also visit his twitter at www.twitter.com/achievemoore, SImon is pictured above at the start of his epic swim, pictured with Commonwealth games swimmer champion Ross Davenport and Derby County director and playing staff along with Simon's Children who will be following his epic trip in a camper (RV) van. GOOD LUCK SIMON FROM US ALL.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Luke Mckenzie Wins again

Luke Mckenzie seems to be un-beatable this year, He's a traveling nomad and while that doesn't work for most , he and his partner Amanda have found what makes them tick .

Below Luke Reports on his most recent win.






















WIN NUMBER 5 for 2009 - HULAMAN HALF IRONMAN

What an awesome race! Yesterday I raced the Hulaman Half Iron triathlon in Forest Grove west of Portland. Coming off a big few weeks of Ironman Hawaii training I didn't know how my body was going to feel and I was nervous doing a race with no easing up leading into it. To top it off a very solid pro field assembled for the race including recent Ironman Lake Placid Champion Maiki Twelsiek and Ironman Canada Champion Kieran Doe just to name a few.

We camped out at the swim start and literally woke up 10 meters from transition. At 6am the temperature was still under 10 degrees C and I was not looking forward to a cold race. Luckily as the sun rose over the mountains it warmed up a little. I had a bad swim for me, mostly due to the fact that after about 200 meters I felt like I was over-heating in my wetsuit . I lost Kierans feet and struggled for 100-150 meters to swim properly. I have never had that feeling before and I hated it! I am sure it's nothing we can't fix with my awesome wetsuit sponsor blueseventy.

I got out of the water 1 minute down on Kieran and set off onto the bike after him. The first 20 miles of the race was around Hagg Lake and it was very tough with lots of power climbs but still pretty cold. I felt like I couldn't warm up and get into a good rhythm. Every time check I heard to Kieran for those 20 miles was 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes ... I was thinking "Oh no he is going to be 10 minutes ahead off the bike."

Maik Twelsiek caught me at about 25 km into the ride and I worked hard to keep him in sight. We descended down from the Lake and into the rolling farmland and I finally found my riding legs. Maiki pushed hard and he strung me out to 100-200 meters at times but I fought to keep him in sight if I wanted any chance of winning. We arrived at T2 having made up about 1 minuted in the final 20km on Kieran but still 2 minutes back.

Onto the run I got a small gap on Maiki out of transition but he soon joined me and we ran shoulder to shoulder till 3 miles where we caught Kieran. I was able to get a 10 meter gap on Maiki just as we passed Kieran and I thought I might have "broken" him. Maiki ran within 100 meters of me till mile 10 at which point I realized I need to put in a big effort to "shake" him and not give him the chance to sprint for the finish. I ran a really good half marathon (mostly due to Maiki pushing me) and was happy with a new personal best of 1.14.19. My over all time was 3.45.02 which set a new course record and was one of my fastest ever Half Ironman times. I was really happy to put together a solid race off the back of some really hard Ironman training.

I have to thank Gary and Chris for having us at the Hulaman race. What an awesome event! For those that haven't been, think Wildflower crossed with Vineman! Great course, challenging but most of all really great people! Thanks!

Hulaman - Individual 1/2 Iron - Pro
Bib Name City, State Age Gen Finish AG FO
14 Luke McKenzie Noosa 28 M 03:45:02.9 1 1
18 Maik Twelsiek Lemgo, Nrw 29 M 03:46:39.8 2 2
16 Brandon Marsh Austin, TX 35 M 03:53:50.5 3 3
7 Kieran Doe Auckland 28 M 03:57:08.4 4 4




Sunday, August 16, 2009

Brownlee takes four from four

The unstoppable Alistair Brownlee again showed he is the real deal taking his fourth Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship Series win (Thats makes four from four amnd counting) . The 21- year old raced in front of a home crowd in London , England yesterday. The young Brit was at the front over the entire 2012 Olympic venue, cruising home in front of an ecstatic home crowd in a time of 1 hour 41 minutes and 50 seconds.
The young blueseventy star couldn't quite believe it, "I never expected at the start of the season to get a win in Madrid, Washington or Kitzbühel or here,” said Brownlee. “I’ve had a lot of luck on my side, but you’ve got to make the most of it and I think I have. It’s been a great run of results and I hope it continues.” His results speak for themselves , This young man will be very hard to beat in the season finale in Australia.



Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Big Results for Team blueseventy in Open Water



Clear skies and beautiful Lake Tahoe hosted the annual Trans Tahoe Relay race this year. The Olympic Club has hosted the event since 1976. Originally the race consisted of 2 teams from the bay area going head to head for the win. The modern relay format adopted by the Olympic Club is an 11.5 mile swim where 6 man teams compete against each other. Each member swims a 30 minute first leg followed by additional 15, 10, and 5 minute legs if needed until the course is completed.

This year the lake conditions were perfect for racing. Team blueseventy, shown above, had an impressive performance finishing second in the team division. Congrats to Team blueseventy!

Be sure and check out www.activereno.com for footage from the Trans Tahoe Relay and the Donner Lake Swim!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Mike Ross - Racking up the Records at USMS Long Course Nationals

Mike Ross took a few minutes to talk with us about the awesome season he is having so far and the records he is smashing here in Indianapolis.



Congrats on some great swims Mike!

Friday, August 7, 2009

United States Master's Nationals with Champion Nancy Steadman Martin

This week Indianapolis, Indiana is playing host to the 2009 USMS Masters National Championships. Just 4 weeks after world records were broken at the storied 'Nat' by the likes of Aaron Piersol and Michael Phelps, athletes from across the nation of all ages have come together to compete in events ranging from the 50 backstroke to the 400 meter IM.

In this clip, 2009 4 time champion and current World Record holder in the Women's 200 meter backstroke in her age group, Nancy Steadman Martin tells us about how she and her friends on the Mighty Mermaid Team share their 'lucky' bluseventy suit across the nation.



Congratulations Nancy and best wishes to all the Mighty Mermaids!

Thursday, August 6, 2009

blueseventy wins at steelhead 70.3





















blueseventys Andy Potts and Sam Warriner were top of the podium at 70.3 Steelhead this weekend

Andy was at the front during the swim, only to be passed by super biker Andrew Starykowicz . Potts overcame a 5 min deficit heading out onto the run to win here in steel-head.

Results below


Male
1 POTTS, ANDY 2/2/1 33/M-PRO 00:22:13 02:13:02 01:16:14 03:54:38
2 STARYKOWICZ, ANDREW 6/1/2 27/M-PRO 00:23:35 02:05:45 01:24:37 03:56:44
3 DOE, KIERAN 3/3/3 28/M-PRO 00:22:18 02:12:53 01:21:51 03:59:31
4 REMALY, GREG 5/4/4 29/M-PRO 00:23:17 02:12:55 01:20:56 04:00:04
5 BECHTEL, SEAN 4/9/5 26/M-PRO 00:23:14 02:18:05 01:19:35 04:03:46
Out of water
1.John Kenny 21.48
2.Andy Potts 22.13
3.Kieran Doe 22.18

















The womens race was an all blueseventy affair, with Leanda cave leading from the water, In close pursuit was Sam Warriner (2008 ITU world series champion) . Samm soon took control of the race and went away for another win over the 70.3 distance. cave held obn for second and
rounded out the 3rd spot was another blueseventy athlete in form of Nina Kraft


blueseventy

















Sam's Words on the race

"I had a good swim exiting just 35 seconds after Leanda
Cave, a known swimmer. I then got on the bike and within 10km I was in in
the lead. That was a surprise because I expected to be chasing down the
leader but did not expect it to come so quick.
I even caught some Pro Men which made me even more
pleased as they'd started their swim 3 minutes ahead of us!?
I got to
transition 2, four and half minutes in front of second place. I did
not know this at the time, so just focused on running as hard as I could.
It was a tough course due to the wind and also it always felt you were
going uphill. I ran strong but struggled in the last 3 miles. But
by that time I finished I had over a seven minute lead so it was just a
case of holding on.
It was the best birthday present ever"

Female
1 WARRINER, SAMANTHA 2/1/1 38/F-PRO 00:25:13 02:22:57 01:27:00 04:17:57
2 CAVE, LEANDA 1/2/2 31/F-PRO 00:24:22 02:28:29 01:29:30 04:25:12
3 KRAFT, NINA 3/5/3 41/F-PRO 00:25:20 02:30:37 01:27:16 04:26:22
4 WILLIAMSON, KELLY 5/9/4 32/F-PRO 00:25:31 02:35:44 01:22:43 04:27:10
5 LOVATO, AMANDA 6/4/5 37/F-PRO 00:28:17 02:27:10 01:28:52 04:27:57
Out of water
1.Leander Cave 24.22
2. Sam Warriner 25.13
3. Nina Craft 25.20





Tuesday, August 4, 2009

First images from Maarten Shoot.



Our recent photo shoot with Olympic Champion Maarten Van Der Weijden produced some fantastic images. The location: Dorney Lake in Eton, where the inaugural Blueseventy open water swim was held. So successful was the event that a second will be held in September 12th. Distances of 1 mile and 3km will be open for all go to www.humanrace.co.uk.

Remember, for the latest open water news go to www.thewaterisopen.com where open water "Guru" Steve Munatones will be giving an insight into the world of swimming open water.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

$10,000 worth of suits stolen from Rome.

Warning to all athletes, especially those in ROME. blueseventy were unfortunate to have their booth from the "Suits for all in the name of a level playing field" zone, within the warm up area of the World Championships in ROMA broken in to. Suits , Nero back packs and limited edition T-shirts were taken. Please be aware prosecution will be swift and sharp we have been informed by the Italian Police authorities, so if you are offered these exclusive pink and grey suits in Rome, please turn them down.

You could say we are victims of our own generosity. FINA asked ALL brands wishing to have their suits approved after the scientific testing to have at least 400 suits available to all at the event. Blueseventy being as we are decided more than 400 was needed, and thus 700 were taken to the hot & sweaty basement where the giving away of suits was managed under guard and view of the events security team. There is not doubt blueseventy gave away more suits than any other brand, in fact some brands did not even turn up till the day of competition and then with enough to kit out only a handful of swimmers. So we gave away suits to swimmers of all nations and abilities, we manned our booth the longest hours and never discriminated between swimmers and left ourselves with spares for those mis-haps and accidents. What do we get in return? This act of incredible selfishness.

Annoyed? Yes, tainted our World Champs? Yes, in a way it has, we committed to this championships and we leave with a ruling that aids no one, such is the crazy short timeline and a loss that just makes the trip and our generosity a little less "Good Feeling"

Thanks

Dean Jackson

Nero Legal to 2010

Our interpretation of FINA's rules is that all the currently approved suits will be available through till the end of the 2009 year. The latest releases from FINA, one stating that the suits would remain legal until April or May, and the most recent statement that says they will be legal till Jan 2010, confirm that at the suits are still going to be used through till this date for any competition following FINA rules. ALL available models of the nero comp suit will be legal through to this date.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Darian Townsend speaks from Roma.

blueseventy ambassador and elite swimmer "Darian Townsend" talks of Rome, suits and the future and calls for the athletes voice to be heard.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

It's for the swimmer

A swimmer in need.

blueseventy committed to swimming

29 July 2009

blueseventy committed to swimming

blueseventy has confirmed it is fully committed to a long term involvement to swimming,
following the FINA announcement yesterday, Tuesday 28th July, that swimmers must return to
more traditional suits from next year.

However, the date of the change over is yet to be defined, and manufactures remain in the dark
about the exact definition of textile suits. Permeability will be a key issue as swimmers return to
shorts (above the knee and up to the navel) for men and suits from the knee to the neck for
women, with no zips.

Ceo, Steve Nicholls said: “We’ve been amazed at the way in which we've been supported by
swimmers and the swimming fraternity, and are committed to returning that support through a
long term swimming program. While we accept there is a need for change, we still have major
concerns over the nature of the changes, in particular, we don’t understand why there is no
parity between male and female swimmers, in terms of coverage, and we’re frustrated that
definitive guidelines on fabrics will not be available until the end of September.”

“The commercial implications of this decision should not be overlooked. Our technical direction
and design plans hinge on the types of fabrics that will be permitted. We know suits can only be
0.8mm thick, but we'd prefer to have more details in order to design the best possible suit that
swimmers will want to wear. However, the limited time period for development will suit a brand
like us that is able to move quickly."

Three-time Olympic Champion Rowdy Gaines is concerned that yesterday’s announcement will
be detrimental to the sport. “I think the bodysuit is great for the sport. It gets the average person
to talk about our sport and it gets people involved who maybe would not have done so. People
love to see fast swimming.”

He added: “Many other sports are greatly influenced by technology, everything from motor
racing to golf and tennis. I fear that young age group swimmers will be lost to the sport because
they can’t achieve the times they have done previously in a bodysuit. I also worry that casual
fans will fade away when there’s no longer a frenzy of world records.”

As well as having a loyal following amongst pool swimmers, blueseventy was the first brand to
design a suit specifically for open water racing. The Nero 10k suit was worn by Olympic
Champion, Maarten vd Weijden in Beijing last year and by medal winners in World
Championships events last week. All versions of the blueseventy swimskin were approved even
before the Speedo LZR racer and have been in wide circulation ever since.

Steve Nicholls added: “There’s an argument that open water suits should fall under separate
guidelines. Open water swimming is the sports newest Olympic discipline and swimmers and
coaches need to have a voice in shaping its development, including the type of swimwear that is
to be allowed. It is also undertaken in a variety of different conditions, and just from a safety
perspective one could argue that different applications of these rules could apply.”

Monday, July 27, 2009

Day 2 recap

Roque reporting from OUTSIDE the ROME venue, because if he was inside that would be potentially in violation of broadcasting rights. Yes yes...

The Italian Way: hard at work in Rome

We pay these guys to go to Rome, and they told us they were flat out at work... WHAT THE!

The Sistine Chapel

blueseventy in Rome, not at the official swimming venue...

Saturday, July 25, 2009

First Day of Swimming- Roma 09

Like a kid in a candy shop, it's blueseventy's own Roque santos at the world champs in Rome.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

SILVER MEDAL FOR GEMMELL

Open Water events in Rome are in full swing under the hot Italian sun. Yesterday the course played host to the men's and women's 10k swims. Now an official Olympic event, the 10k is even more competitive than ever. Keri-Anne Payne of Great Britain took victory in the women's field amongst a sea of blueseventy suits. On the men's side Andrew Gemmell from the good old US of A came in second in blueseventy with American teammate Fran Crippen in third.
Up next are the daunting 25ks...not for the faint of heart. Ciao for now!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

ROMA 2009, 10k Women's is underway.

Well what an incredible venue and atmosphere at this world championships. The 10k event was underway this morning under clear sky's and weather that will surely demand the English man cracks open some factor 35. Watching the events with the blueseventy team are Olympic Champion Maarten Van Der Weijden, His Girlfriend Daisy, Steve Munatones (The Oracle of open water swimming) Michelle form Australia and two very excited parents of the USA open water swimmer Emily Brunemann. Picture and videos will be streaming to the blog as as when between meeting some of the great people i the world of open water allow. (For latest updates go to www.thewaterisopen.com)

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Rome Day 3 but Really Day 1 - Reporting: Guy Crawford and the ever chatty Dean Jackson

Our very own Guy Crawford and Dean Jackson are already in Rome covering the open water races kicking off today with the Men's and Women's 5k. Check out Guy's blog entry below:

"The first day has seen a phenomenal success for all athletes wearing the blueseventy 10k swimskins.

Results: Bronze Medal for POLIANA OKIMOTO ( Brazil) in the Women’s 5km competition
Sadly no medals in the men’s race but with the blueseventy nero 10k suit being the only Open Water specific swimskin it was clear which swimsuit was the preferred brand.

Activities:
Maarten Van Der Weijden Olympic Gold Medalist joined myself (Guy) and Steve Munatones to give a live twitter update of the race that was witnessed by several thousand (so our sources lead us to believe)
We helped Maarten to gain a VIP pass for the duration of the event (can you believe a Gold Medalist didn’t get one!!) For this Guy had to show a nipple….

Additionally, strong and future profitable alliances were made with all National Governing Bodies partaking in Open Water events (Specifically GB, USA and Brazil)

Further conversations with the BBC are looking fruitful for a televised piece from our living room showing all our suits on Thursday. For this Guy had to show other nipple….

Update: Found that Italy does not believe in the internet, IT has a different meaning here. BUT we will find a way for more in-depth reporting following another day in the water. (thanks to Jane in our New Zealand office for typing this up via phone)

Signing off 10.50pm ROMA time 2009AD"

Stay tuned for more updates and be sure and check out Guy's blog at http://blueseventyguy.blogspot.com and Roque's 'Roque n' Roll' blog at www.roque-n-roll.blogspot.com for interviews and inside info!

Great Big Open Water Swim

On Saturday July 11, athletes took to Dorney Lake for the first ever blueseventy Great Big Open Water Swim. The cloudy, overcast conditions couldn’t put a damper on the excitement at the start.
The event hosted 2 race distances, the 1 mile or the 3K race. Olympic champion and blueseventy ambassador Maarten Van Der Weijden made a special trip from Holland to compete in the 3K. Initially Maarten was the heavy favorite in the event but Richard Stannard made a last minute entry into the swim to compete in his first race since a serious bike crash last month.

From the start of the 3k, Van Der Weijden, Stannard and Bradley Hales pulled away from the pack swimming neck and neck for most of the race. Maarten used his trademark ‘slipstreaming’ technique right behind Stannard until the final .5k where he powered forward to capture the lead. With only seconds separating the trio, they raced up the beach to the finish. Reminiscent of Beijin, Maarten out sprinted Stannard at the finish to win by one second with Hales finishing in third just a few seconds back.
"It’s my third time racing in the UK" said Van Der Weijden. "The venue here at Dorney Lake is perfect for open water swimming but this was a hard race for me today and there was tough competition out there from Richard Stannard. I officially retired in December 2008 but I’m still doing some training. The Swim today was great. I really enjoyed following Richard Stannard around the 3k course. The buoys were well marked out and the water temperature great for me. blueseventy have helped me out throughout my career and it is great to be able to use one of their suits to promote the Great Big Open Water Swim".

Pos Men Woman
1st Maarten Van Der Weijden 32.25 Michelle Senecal 37:39
2nd Richard Stannard 32.26 Katherine Weber 39:14
3rd Bradley Hales 32.29 Sophie Whitworth 40:03

Friday, July 17, 2009

Free Trip to 2009 Ironman Championships in Kona!

blueseventy is raffling off a trip for two to Kona for the Ironman World Championships this October! Trip includes 2 roundtrip tickets to Kona along with a 3 night stay at Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort from Friday Oct. 9 to Monday, Oct. 12 for the race!

Qualifying for this amazing offer is easy! Any athlete who demos a blueseventy wetsuit at Ironman Lake Placid, Ironman Canada, or Ironman Wisconsin will be automatically entered into the raffle for the trip. Additionally, any athlete who purchases a blueseventy wetsuit at any of the listed events will receive 6 additional raffle tickets!

We will have a full fleet of suits for you to try at all 3 of those events so be sure to stop by & try a suit to be entered to win a trip for 2 to Kona!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

blueseventy Announces Swimskin Buy Back Program


blueseventy announces the Swimskin Buy Back Program to help consumers in light of the new regulations detailed in FINA’s Dubai Charter. The blueseventy Swimskin Buy Back Program is the first of its kind in the industry and is designed to help individual consumers and college athletic programs make the transition with ease while lessening the financial impact to buy a FINA compliant swimskin in 2010.

blueseventy swimskins always have been and always will be FINA compliant. As a company, blueseventy is fully supportive of the effort made by FINA to regulate the effects of technology in the sport The blueseventy Buy Back Program will help consumers buy a new swimskin, when the changes go into effect January 1, 2010.

The buy back program is easy:

• Buy a blueseventy “Nero” swimskin, tight or jammer after April 1, 2009

• Enjoy the new found potential of your swimming until December 31, 2009

• Bring your eligible blueseventy product and receipt to a participating dealer in January 2010 and receive a reduction in the retail of your new “Like for Like” Nero product. Rebate value will be 50% of the like for like product form the new 2010 FINA legal line.

• Rebate period will be a three week period to be designated in the first quarter of 2010 as we find out more about the requirements for suits for the 2010 season from FINA.


“We are delighted to be able give something back to the competitive swimmer who we believe right now is caught in the changes taking place,” says Dean Jackson, blueseventy Marketing manager. “For us it is about servicing the swimmer and delivering a program that offers value in a world where the changes are beyond their control, yet they have to meet the consequence” Jackson, adds, “We could not have offered this without the support of our dealers and we thank them for working with us in keeping the category alive throughout the rest of 2009 and offering value into 2010.”

The blueseventy Swimskin Buy Back Program is currently available at U.S & UK . dealers currently, The company plans on rolling out the program internationally in the next few weeks.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Brownlee - Triathlon's New Superman


Alistair Brownlee of Great Britain is undeniably one of the most dominant forces in triathlon today.
This past weekend Brownlee made it three for three with a victory at the Kitzbuhel Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship Series in Austria. He remains undefeated in the series following wins in both Madrid and Washington DC.
Looking strong in the swim, Brownlee exited the water with the leading pack but suffered a setback while transitioning to his bike where he lost a shoe. It was just a matter of minutes before Alistair was back with the lead pack though.
Reminiscent of both Madrid and Washington DC, Brownlee made his move on the run, accelerating past opponents Javier Gomez and Laurent Vidal. He extended his lead to 100 meters, remaining calm and relaxed. Gomez made a move but Brownlee held him off to take victory with Gomez taking second and Vidal in third.
At only 21 years old, Alistair is taking the triathlon world by storm and is the current leader in the ITU World Championship Rankings at the half way point:

2009 Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship Rankings
After Race Four of Eight
1. Alistair Brownlee (GBR) 2400pts
2. Javier Gomez (ESP) 2368pts
3. Laurent Vidal (FRA) 1963pts
4. Maik Petzold (GER) 1951pts
5. Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS) 1813pts

Monday, July 13, 2009

US World Championship Trials Wrap Up

What an amazing week at World Championship Trials! The US Team is looking strong and is ready to race in Rome. There were some great swims this past week including an American Record by Julia Smit in the Women's 200m IM in blueseventy! Check out the video below with our own Roque Santos with a wrap up from the weeks events:



Congratulations to all athletes going to Rome and good luck!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Final day at Indy

Good Morning from Indy!

Some fast swims from last night's finals session here in Indy:

Nathan Adrian (Junior @ Cal) won the 50 free 2 nights ago and took first in the 100 last night as well to sweep the sprint events
Elaine Breeden of Stanford took third in the women's 200m fly in a blueseventy
Ryan Lochte came within tenths of a second of Michael Phelps's World Record in the 200m IM and the Women's 200m backstroke was a photo finish with Elizabeth Beisel out touching the 15 year old Elizabeth Pelton.

Thats a wrap
Megan

day 3 of trials

Hi Everyone

Very exciting night in Indy tonight! 

The seemingly unstoppable Michael Phelps won the 100m Fly, breaking Ian Crocker's World Record.
In the mens 50m Free Nathan Adrian came from outside for the win while top seed Cullen Jones and Garrett Weber-Gale tied for second place.
The women's 400m Individual Medley was a neck and neck race the last 100 meters with Elaine Breeden coming out just ahead of Julia Smit in a blueseventy
Kasey Carlsen took 2nd and earned a spot on the US World Championship Team in the 100m breastroke in a blueseventy, right behind Rebecca Soni who achieved a new American Record.

Thanks
Megan

Friday, July 10, 2009

First 3 days in Indy at the USA World Trials Championships 2009!!



Our own 'Roque n Roll' Santos is at the US World Championship Trials this week in Indianapolis, Indiana and gives us a play by play update from his blog http://roque-n-roll.blogspot.com/ shown below:

"The road to Rome starts in Indy, and the World is watching as the suits wars are in full swing! Oh want fun it is!! Swimmers have to make a choice and they have to believe that they are in the best suit for them! One year ago our little known company was on the pool deck at the USA Olympic Trials and Gil Stoval was the only USA athlete to make the team in a blueseventy nero comp! We've made huge strides forward from that day.

Now in Indy after three days, we have three women in four events making our USA World Championship Swimming Team.

Julia Smit from Stanford has made the team in the 200 IM with a New American Record!! BOOM! She also made the team in the 400IM. Julia did have her suit taken from the locker room.. Suit must be good!

Hayley McGregory missed out USA Team twice last year by placing 3rd in both the 100 & 200 back.. However, in the blueseventy she was the champion in the womens 100 back and will be heading to Rome!

Kasey Carlson...Set the High School standard in the 100 yard breaststroke this year in a blueseventy. Last night she made her first World Championship team in the same event and the same suit!

Wow - what a great week so far! More to come!

P.S. We have found Garrett.."

Thursday, July 9, 2009

blueseventy's Own Sharon Bates Competes at Human Race Timex Sprint Tri

Our very own Sharon Bates competed last weekend at Dorney Lake, Eton in the UK in the Human Race Timex Sprint Tri.

When she isn't busy in our UK office, Sharon has been training away for her first triathlon and finished with flying colors. She is an incredibly valuable member of our blueseventy team and it's great to see her hard work pay off.

Congratulations Sharon! We are so proud of you!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

TBB and blueseventy Show Dominance at IM Austria

The stage was set for Bella Comerford to take over the championship, while three-time winner, Marino Vanhoenacker, was back to see if he could turn that into a four.

The women's race was opened up by TBB and blueseventy’s athlete Lucie Zelenkova, who came out with the leading men. A win in South Africa in April had wet her appetite for the podium places. Team mate Bella Bayliss lagged a little on the swim, so Zelenkova's tactic was clearly to get out of sight and out of mind. Co-incidentally, this was exactly what Vanhoenacker was doing as he flew out of T1 and immediately set about building a clear buffer.

While Vanhoenacker's tactic paid off in spades, even Björn Andersson's attempt to bridge-up failed (and effectively doomed his race at the same time). Zelenkova was caught and passed by Bayliss before T2.

Marino's lead was such that it wasn't just a case of winning, but whether he could crack that magic eight-hour mark. In the end he slowed just enough that he missed the sub-eight, but still claimed a new course record and took home a fourth winners cheque. Bayliss had lit the afterburners and was heading for an emphatic win which, as a by-product, also gave her a sub-nine time, the second fastest official time ever. Even Sonja Tajsich, her nearest rival, managed to squeak under the clock to joint the sub-nine club - the second year in a row Austria has delivered two women at sub-nine times.

Revelation of the race has to be South African and TBB/Blueseventy athete James Cunnama, who worked with the chase group and then set about delivering a run that was perfectly measured to keep him in second place. He couldn't catch Vanhoenacker, but he could certainly hold off last year's runner-up, Stephen Bayliss, (again TBB and blueseventy athlete) who had to settle for third place this time.

Blueseventy and TBB congratulate all ther athletes for such a strong showing at the front end of the field.

Monday, July 6, 2009

IM Frankfurt , and another blueseventy win
















In yet another exciting day of racing in Frankfurt, Blueseventy’s own Timo Bracht set a course record in winning his second Ironman European Championship, while Sandra Wallenhorst won the much-anticipated showdown with Yvonne Van Vlerken to take the women's crown in Frankfurt.

Bracht used a blazing 2:43 marathon split to run his way to the men's title today, passing Eneko Llanos with seven km of the marathon remaining and flew into the spectacular finish here at historic Romer, setting a course record with his 7:59:16 finish. Bracht had started the run with last year's champion, Chris McCormack, about three minutes behind Llanos, who had remained ahead of the two men after the swim and through the entire bike ride. Bracht looked like he would have to settle for third after the 2007 Ford Ironman World Champion surged away from him and caught up to Llanos, who finished second to McCormack here a year ago after dueling with the
Australian through the marathon.































Just when it looked likeMcCormack was goin to run his way to another win here in Frankfurt,
he suddenly stopped because of cramps. Bracht flew by McCormack and surged past Llanos into the lead. McCormack hung on for third, followed by Andreas Raelert, who had led for parts of the swim and bike today before slowing dramatically at the start of the marathon. Raelert,
competing in only his second Ironman, gathered himself and finished a solid fourth. Rounding
out the top five was Mathias Hecht.