Andrew McCartney tries out the new 2010 Helix

Andrew McCartney joined the blueseventy team this year, and sent us an email after testing his new kit for the season. Andrew will be racing at the Hy-Vee ITU Elite Cup in Des Moines in a couple of weeks where he hopes to defend his swim prime...

Well we had our first swim out in the lakes yesterday. It was a tad bit chilly on the face but quickly warmed up. We swam a 4km set so I had lots of time to get a good feel of the new wetsuit. What an amazing difference. I love the forearms! You really don't need very much material there.

I always talk about feel of the water. I think any swimmer would say that the 'feel of the water' is the key to fast swimming and it always bothered me that you can't really feel the water if it is covered by 5mms of wetsuit material. So I think that is spot on. Shoulders feel great in the wetsuit and the floatation feels awesome. This I all noticed from one swim. May I also add, thank goodness for zippers from the bottom up. This makes for fast, effortless transitions.

I would also like to say the goggles are fantastic. The Nero Racers fit my face perfectly. The choice of different lenses are an often forgotten aspect of goggles and is always appreciated.

So thanks again for helping me out this season.

Hope all is well,

Andrew McCartney

http://andrewmccartney.blogspot.com/

Luke drops us a note on his IM Brazil win

Luke dropped his a line about his 5th IM win in Brazil, and in record time no less!

Wow ... what a day! As an athlete you are constantly in search of that perfect race. I am a firm believer that no race will ever go perfectly but yesterday I felt like I almost got it.

Ironman Brazil is a mass start and we were told we would have a 10m gap between the professionals and the amateurs but by the time the horn sounded it was pure mayhem. I got off to a good start and hit the lead straight away. Swimming a little off course on the return to the beach the first time, I exited the water with two other swimmers right on my heels but as we ran the 100m beach section to begin lap two I was alone again in the lead, and I began to pull away.

I was first out the water in 42.27 with a handy 3 minute lead on the group behind including Reinaldo Colucci, Eduardo Sturla, Oscar Galindez and Ezequiel Morales. I rode at a good pace over the first 40km and saw that the group hadn't eaten much into my lead, so I kept my head down and worked on staying ahead. At the 90km turn-a-round Sturla was leading the group and they had my lead down to about 2 minutes but I was still determined to push on solo and make them work to catch me. On the second lap the group behind me began to split which worked to my advantage and now only Sturla and Galindez were within striking distance. I actually gained some time in the last 40km and finished the bike with a 4 minute gap. My bike split was a career best for me in 4 hrs 26 mins 50 seconds.

Now the real race would begin. I knew both Sturla and Galindez are good runners and I had to nail one of my best marathons to ensure I held them off if I wanted to win. Galindez charged at me hard in the first 10km and at one stage he was about one minute behind me but after the one tough hilly section of the course I was able to stretch it back to 2 minutes. From that point I continued to build my lead on my pursuers having a good 7 minute lead at 30km. The order behind me had changed somewhat and now Ezequiel Morales who is a phenomenal runner was beginning to gain on me. With 5km to go I could see he was at about 6 minutes back and I knew I had the win.

At the 3km to go marker my Brazilian friend Rodriego came up to me on a bike and told me to keep pushing because I was on pace to break the 8 year old course record of 8.11. The last 2 km was lined with crazy spectators and the adrenaline kicked in and I pushed hard to the finish line. I broke the course record and clocked a career best time of 8 hrs 7 minutes 39 seconds.

It was seriously the best experience of my life. I have won races all around the world but yesterdays race was something I will treasure forever. The Brazilian people are amazing spectators and made the win even more special. Thanks Florianopolis and thank you Brazil!

I am looking forward to a week off training and some fun in Rio before we head to Europe for next weeks training camp in Sardinia. I have made the decision to make some slight changes to my racing schedule leading into Hawaii. I am now purely focusing on a top result there so the plan will be to select a few Ironman 70.3's and Olympic distance races in July and August in the USA and save the Ironman legs for October.

US Masters Nationals - Last Hurrah for Tech Suits!

The pool deck was buzzing with adrenaline and excitement in Atlanta this past weekend for the US Master's Short Course National Championships - also known as the last hurrah for tech suits.

Several of blueseventy's finest raced the best in the country in the pool that hosted the 1996 Olympic Games.

Starting the meet off with the distance events - Jeff Erwin shattered the existing record in the mile with a time of 16:08. blueseventy's USMS First Lady Laura Val took home wins across the board with a national record in the 200 IM and Oregon native Dennis Baker set a national record in the 400 IM and touched out the competition for a win in the 200 Fly. Rounding out the IM's, Mike Ross took 1st with a national record in the field favorite 100 IM while Rich Burns set a record in the 200 IM. Rowdy Gaines had a narrow victory in the 200 Free but dominated the field in the 100 and 50 yard freestyle. Rowdy sported the new neroTX anchoring Team Blue Frog's 200 Free Relay. Be sure and check out Rowdy's recaps of the meet with Rob Butcher at: http://www.usms.org/

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hi to Megan and Colleen in the blueseventy booth (and thanks to Scot Weiss for the picture!). Be sure and check out the USMS buy back program launching on June 1 to get your neroTX for sunny Puerto Rico - happy swimming!

blueseventy signs triathlon legend

We're stoked to announce that Greg Bennett has joined the blueseventy team. At 38, he shows ability and staying power rarely seen in the sport. Greg has contested more than 80 World Cup events, claiming two world series titles along with six race wins and 26 podium finishes. He has also won the sports richest prize purse, being the only person to win all five events in the major US Lifetime Fitness Series (but we can all dream...) We're very proud to have someone of his calibre lining up wearing blueseventy.

Greg is highly experienced and respected, and we're really looking forward to developing a long and successful partnership with him. He will be of huge value to us as an ambassador and advisor on our products, as we continually look to improve and innovate through detailed athlete feedback and analysis. Greg will also gain the benefits of our market leading wetsuit and swimskin technology, as well as the super-light carbon goggles.

Greg has also announced some other major news today. He has been granted a release from racing for Australia and will now compete for the United States. Don't worry Aussies - he still loves you!!

The main reason for this change is primarily so that he could be a bigger part of wife Laura's Bennetts 2012 Olympic campaign. The couple have shared a long and successful career in triathlon together, both providing the support, advice and mentoring needed to reach the levels they have achieved. And although Greg has done this while racing for Australia, he feels that he would like to be with Laura for her final Olympic journey, which he could not do as well as he would like unless he could be fully part of her team.

But for Greg personally the move makes great sense. "In regard to my own career, the majority of my racing over the last several years has been in the United States, all my sponsorship deals are US-based, and the medical team I rely on is based in Florida and Dallas."

And it sure doesn't matter to us where Greg is based - doesn't matter where in the world you are - you'll be swimming faster in blueseventy!

You can read the full story here.

Cat Morrison wins IM Lanzarote, even with a tea break.

Well to be fair it wasn't planned, but still...

We love it when someone from our blueseventy team wins, but this one takes the cake! Cat was in fine form at IM Lanzarote, ripping it up on the bike when 'ping' - her chain broke. It took nearly half an hour for her to get back in the race, during which time she took a wee break.
"Everyone was so helpful and soon there were phone calls galore going on to try and get the mechanic to me. I hydrated, ate some more food, sat in the shade and shot the breeze with the locals and spectators. I spent a lot of time chatting to people yesterday, that’s for sure! Eventually with a great big shove from a couple of super german boys I was back on the road. There were loads of bodies on the course so it was a motivational back half of the race ticking people off."

Her partner Richard told her at T2 she was 28mins down on the lead woman. For most mere mortals we'd have been thinking our day was done, but not Cat.
"I needed to finish within 5% of the winning time and in the top 2 to get my Kona slot."

Gradually she passed through the field (containing some quality athletes we might add, including three time winner Bella Bayliss) to take the lead and the win over the last 5k.
"I could hardly believe it. The whole race was about ticking places and people off. About not giving in and dare I say it, about believing that it was going to happen. A very special moment to cross the line knowing that I showed myself some important things and made the race especially exciting for everyone and probably gave richard a few extra grey hairs."

The mens race had it's own interesting features... Stephen Bayliss led out of the water, only to be taken over by Philip Greaves early in the bike. But the lead wouldn't last as Maik Twelsiek pulled out a new course record time of 4:41 on the bike, breaking Thomas Hellriegel’s 15-year-old bike course record (set on a course that didn’t have quite as much climbing, either). This gave him a 10-minutes lead on Bert Jammaer starting the run and over 12-minutes on Eneko Llanos. Graves came in off the bike in fourth but ran 1km before pulling out, exclaiming that "if you see me at the start of an Ironman in the next two years you have my permission to shoot me.” Bayliss also withered on the bike and withdrew.

But it was Llanos who would go on to take the win thanks to a solid 2:50 marathon, repeating his win from 2007.

IM Lanzarote, 22 May 2010
Men:
1 Eneko Llanos ESP 08:37:43
2 Bert Jammaer BEL 08:39:36
3 Maik Twelsiek GER 08:42:53

Women:
1 Catriona Morrison SCO 10:03:53
2 Louise Collins ENG 10:05:21 (25-29 AG)
3 Nicole Woysch GER 10:11:18

Karen Rogers updates us on her latest epic swim.

Karen is a marvel - she'll swim just about anything, and as fast as possible too. She dropped us an email with an update on her latest adventure:

Hey blueseventy!

Here is a link to my latest training swim. Golden Gate Bridge to San Mateo Bridge, 23 miles and I swam it in 7 hours 21 minutes, breaking the previous woman's record by 33 minutes. It was an amazing swim. Thanks for the gear. I am looking forward to trying the new suits as soon as they come out. Hopefully I will be wearing one for my Farallones swim.

You can watch the video on You Tube here.

I will update my blog with a swim story in a day or two after I recover a little.

Dream it! Swim it!

Karen
www.karenmrogers.com

blueseventy backing Britain's top age-group ironman

blueseventy is pleased to be supporting Britain’s Lucy Gossage. When we heard that Britain’s top Age Group Hawaii finisher from 2008 only had a tatty looking old wetsuit that needed replacing, we were straight round to the post office to send her a new Helix as she prepares for Ironman Frankfurt!

Lucy is a cancer doctor and has an Ironman best time of 10:05! As part of her iron-preparations she decided to run the London marathon, for fun, and broke three hours. Here’s what she had to say about it...

"I was one of the 37,000 athletes lining up at the start of the London Marathon in April. And what a great day it was. I'd combined it with visits to old university friends and was viewing it more as a training session and a fun weekend in London than a big race. So was pretty relaxed at the start, placing myself right at the back of the championship race (I didn't want to get run over by hundreds of 5 minute milers!)

I went into it thinking I would pace it pretty conservatively - as always on race day though you end up going quicker than you think you would. Anyway, to cut a long story short I got half way in 1.29 and was still feeling good so thought I'd go for the sub 3hr finish. And managed, comfortably, with a few minutes to spare - and didn't wreck myself either!

"Was a fab day out with the crowds, music and atmosphere, topped with an incredible feeling of solidarity with everyone else racing. I'm pleasantly suprised to have a decent marathon under my belt, but the run has also given me a bit more confidence in my run up to Ironman Germany (now only 7 weeks away - eek!)"

Ryan Sissons - Ligue Calédonienne de Triathlon Champion 2010

ITU athlete Ryan Sissons (NZL) joined the blueseventy team for 2010. He's just come back from winning Ligue Calédonienne de Triathlon and dropped us a line with this race report.

Well once again and for the 3rd year I headed off to New Caledonia to race the Ligue Calédonienne International de Triathlon in Noumea. It's a great race and the organizers do a great job at putting on an awesome event with a few other international triathletes. I was fourth here last year and was looking to go better this year, knowing I was in much better shape. The race started at 8am, and by this time it was already staring to warm up, which is perfect for me! I had a good 1500meter swim in my new blueseventy tri-suit and exited the water at the front in a group of 4. This was soon down to 3 with Michael Poole (NZL), a French athlete, and myself taking out the bike hard. At about 7km into the first lap another 3 athletes joined our trio, John Polson, Aaron Farlow and Patrick Vernay (the home crowds favorite). This was to remain for the rest of the 40km ride, with Cameron Brown behind working hard by himself to try and bridge the gap up to the front.

Off the bike it was now onto the 10km run!! There were 5 of us all together into the first 1km. The pace was solid with Polson slightly off the front and pushing the pace. I hung back with Farlow as I knew it was still a long way to go. We caught Polson at 2km and by this time there were only 3 of us left at the front, with Vernay and Poole trailing. I was feeling really comfortable and was just planning my tricky trick, which I did at about 6.5km! I surged hard and got away, my Brooks T6 racing flats were doing the trick and I instantly put a gap on the others and I knew this was the time to make it count, so I kept on pushing the pace. By 7.5km and going onto the last lap I had a sufficient gap back to Farlow who had now dropped Polson. I continued to run hard as I knew the race wasn't over until I crossed the finish line and by the time I got to the final turnaround I had opened the gap up even more. The crowd on the way back into transition and up to the finish shoot was great with hundreds of people lining the streets cheering all the athletes on. I came across the line winning my first Noumea International Triathlon in front of some other great athletes and a loud crowd. Farlow came in 2nd with Polson 3rd, Vernay 4th, Poole 5th, Brown 6th.

It was a great feeling to win this race in 2010, the 25th Anniversary of the race. Now its back to NZ to pack and get ready to head over to Boulder, Colorado USA to train with the rest of the Kiwi team, gearing up for the rest of the European Season!

It was also a great day for the Kiwis as Jo Lawn took out the honors of the female race.

What are you doing Steve?!

I get so excited when a disc of photos turns up from our latest photo shoot... I love scrolling through the shots and seeing our kit in action. But I have to say I laughed out loud (a lot) at these pics... This is CEO and Creative Genius Steve Nicholls on location for our Endurance tri apparel shoot... but what the hell is he doing?!

Steve displays the new 'aero crane' exercise...

Testing the pants off our suits...

It's a tough job but someone has to do it... and in this case it's young up and coming kiwi triathlete Teresa Adam testing out our elite kit in the lab. Looks painful (the testing - not the suit - that looks super sweet)...

Teresa dropped us this pic with her latest update...
"I enjoyed doing a photo shoot for the new blueseventy triathlon apparel range last week - its not everyday you get to run around with a flock of sheep in a race suit...

Over the weekend I was down in Dunedin doing some heat testing in the heat chamber at Otago Uni, perfect time to try out the new blueseventy tri suit in really tough conditions and I must say it felt great! So now I will be heading off to Boulder Colorado, Germany and Hungary in 10 days to train with the NZ Triathlon High Performance Team. I feel so blessed to have such an awesome opportunity and I know I will go well in my kick ass blueseventy gears!"

Teresa was 4th out of the water in the first round of the ITU World Champs series in Sydney (on debut) so we have no doubt she will be doing some ass kicking in our kit - go Teresa!

The legendary Wildflower Triathlon Festival

Camping. S'Mores. Beer. Triathlon. and nuun?

Welcome to Lake San Antonio, California where some 7,500 triathletes converge to take part in arguably one of the hardest half's in the country. This is one epic race. One not to be missed. Sporting the slogan 'Experience the Triathlon Lifestyle' I beg to differ - Wildflower puts the weekend warrior to the test - hot, dry air during the daylight hours, cold shivering temps at night; cooking your own food over campfire; drunken college kids running amok into the wee hours of morning and the obnoxiously LONG and LOUD siren that goes off at 5 AM to wake them up. To me the triathlon "lifestyle" is securing your hotel room a year out, not claiming a camping spot a day before the race that will provide close enough access to the bathroom without hearing everything and preferably your own fire pit. Or how about planning your meals and preparing your bottles the night before. Not here. Get a fire going and let's share some Cup-O-Noddles. A clean, comfortable bathroom in order to take care of business in the morning? Well... it's still a race after all.

But these are the things that make this race so special.

blueseventy had a most excellent start to the long course race when our man Rasmus Henning led the swim in the new balanced buoyancy AXIS wetsuit. He went on to finish 5th overall.

photo by Timothy Carlson

Desiree Ficker finished 2nd overall with a strong race all around.

Congratulations to everyone who raced at Wildflower. You really desire it. It's a tough race. At least it didn't rain. Then it would have been real interesting.

Shot out to my peeps at nuun for the company and support. I would not have made it thru the weekend without you. Not sure what's harder - racing? spectating? or slinging nuun for three straight days? You decide. I'm out.

Results

Men

1. Michael Raelert (GER) 3:55:57
2. Joe Gambles (AUS) 4:01:58
3. Eneko Llanos (ESP) 4:03:34
4. Philip Graves (GBR) 4:03:54
5. Rasmus Henning (DEN) 4:05:42
6. Martin Jensen (DEN) 4:06:43
7. Joe Umphenour (USA) 4:09:22
8. Maik Twelsiek (GER) 4:09:57
9. Kevin Everett (USA) 4:10:50
10. Conrad Stoltz (RSA) 4:13:14

Women

1. Julie Dibens (GBR) 4:27:53
2. Desiree Ficker (USA) 4:35:02
3. Virginia Berasategui (ESP) 4:39:46
4. Magali Tisseyre (CAN) 4:40:04
5. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) 4:43:28
6. Haley Cooper (USA) 4:47:24
7. Linsey Corbin (USA) 4:48:32
8. Julia Grant (USA) 4:49:32
9. Amy Marsh (USA) 4:50:06
10. Lesley Paterson (GBR) 4:50:31

Mikey

Luke McKenzie wins at Busselton

Our mate Luke pulled out yet another great race to take the win at Busselton Half Ironman in Australia on the weekend. He finished just 15 seconds slower than the course record he set the previous year, and would have probably beaten it if he hadn't got a bit lost in T2. We reckon it was because he was preoccupied - worrying that our very own Guy Crawford might be catching him... but Guy will have to wait to fulfil his life long goal of beating Luke McKenzie... At anything.

Just like Luke, Lisa Marangon exited the water first, and had a strong bike to hold off fast finishing Kate Bevilaqua for the win.

Check out the full race report and top 10 results at slowtwitch.com