The Ironman of Ironmen?

As we all argue over the optimal recovery period for our Ironman racing, Petr Vabrousek is probably deciding what his monthly race calendar is going to be in 2011. The recently voted Czech republic (for the 12th consecutive year 1999-2010), Ironman of the Year knocked out 11 Ironman distance events in 2010, which by his standard is slacking based on 13 in 2009, 14 in 2008 and 2007.

Oh and he doesn't muck around in terms of times either, of the 95 (yes 95) total Ironman distance events he has raced, he has finished in the top 10 a remarkable 80 times. (thats broken up as follows: 57 times in WTC Ironman events, 5 times at challende races, 10 times at Czech and Slovak Nationals, 5 x at ITU or ETU Ironman distance events, 2 times at Almere, and 1 time at Silverman). How does that rank on the top 10 list of top tens, funny you should ask: check this out. (Petr is waiting for his last 3 top 10's in official Ironman Events to be added to the list, but whose counting.


http://www.tri226.de/ironman-ergebnisse.php?language=ge&comp=series&ath_most=stopten_m

www.petrvabrousek.eu for more
Season greetings
blueseventy

Eves Surfbreaker Tri

Graham O'Grady pips Cam Todd by just 2sec for the win.  Photo: Sam Ackland

While many where still sitting around trying to digest the ham and pavlova from Christmas Day, we were at the Eve's Surfbreaker Triathlon in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand.  We've proudly supported this great event for a while now, and this years event was just as awesome, featuring a sprint finish for the line - the closest finish in its 27 year history, just 2 seconds separating 1st and 2nd.  And - what do you know - the winners of the men's and women's sections were both blueseventy athletes.

It was  superb day, with just over 200 competitors enjoying the relaxed atmosphere and perfect conditions on Main Beach.  There was just enough of a wave to make a difference but not to frighten off those who prefer the "still" water.  

Graham O'Grady had to fight hard to catch youngster Cameron Todd who led out of the water and through until well into the run.   In third was the 2009 winner Sam Osborne. All 3 wore blueseventy Helix wetsuits!!! Graham is an athlete to watch in next week's Port of Tauranga Half Ironman, having already won the Lake Karapiro Half IM and Rotorua Half IM within the last two months.

In contrast Rebecca Kingsford led from start to finish, taking out the women's race by 2 min 45 sec from Youth Olympics Triathlete Maddie Dillon. Again the 2009 winner, Janine Simpson, was third.

A huge thanks to Sheryl McLay from Shorebreak Aquatics for hosting such a great event.

A very, er, competitive Christmas at the Swallows

Newly crowned IM 70.3 Champion Jodie Swallow is off to her home town of Essex, England for Christmas, but doesn't sound like there will be much sitting around going on at the Swallow household!

Are you Santa or the Grinch? Love Xmas or hate it?

I like it; I like spending money and partying so it’s cool for me.

Where are you spending Xmas this year?

I’ll be at home in Essex with my family until Boxing Day when I fly to South Africa to get on with work.

Who will you spend it with?

Mum/dad/Joanna and her boyfriend.

How do you spend the day? Travelling around or bunkered down at home?

We all train till about 3pm (serious!) then we open presents and eat Christmas dinner. I used to like taking Baxter for a walk on Xmas day but he’s not here any more.

What’s on your Gift Wish list this year?

Nothing really, I would like a massage that’s about all.

Best present you ever got? (Aside from your blueseventy wetsuit of course)

Ummm...my all saints leather jacket. I love it but spent all of last new years crying cos I thought I’d lost it he he.

Worst present you have ever got? It’s socks isn’t it….

Mum sometimes wraps up things that are not really presents… like nuun tablets... that’s a pretty crap present.

Got any traditions you’ll be upholding? Carolling? Snow Angels? Bit of backyard cricket?

Ummm. No!

What’s your training schedule like around Christmas?

Probably a bit more full on cos my sister and mum get competitive in terms of amount of hours they can cram in so I have to up it.

Do you train on Christmas day, and if so, what do you do?

Turbo and a long run... I’d swim if it was open.

Favourite tipple at Christmas? Do you allow a bit of eggnog?

Mojitos as always.

We do nothing but eat from dawn to dusk at our place – what do you do? What’s on the menu for your feast?

Mum is pretty good. Pretty healthy dinner eaten very late followed by lots and lots of chocolate. We don’t do dessert we do chocolate.

Do you prefer Xmas in the Snow or the Sand?

In the sand, most def.

We’ve got Dean Martin crooning Xmas songs in the office – who will you be singing along to this Christmas?

Something far cooler ;)

Hey! Dean Martin is cool!

Got any tips for getting rid of any excess, er, “Christmas weight”?

I guess eat less and exercise more. Or just enjoy it.

Will you be heading off on holiday anywhere?

Holiday? That sounds good.

What have you got planned for New Years?

I’ll be in South Africa so James Cunnama better be sorting something spectacular!

And lastly, what’s this year’s New Years resolution?

Not to be ill on news year’s day.... last year was grim.

Photos: Jero Honda / triathlon.org

Inspiring swimmers of tomorrow

We’ve been out spreading the love for swimming again - this time at Cherry Tree Primary School in Derby, UK, with blueseventy Olympic swimmer and 2008 Commonwealth Games silver medalist Ross Davenport. Julie from our UK office joined Ross for the afternoon, as he talked to the children about the goals they can achieve through swimming.

The children had just finished a swimming course held by the school, and Ross had the honor of handing out the certificates. The kids were all glued to Ross, listening to him talk about his own goals and achievements in swimming. They’re all keen now to follow suit and get medals, just like him (oh, bless…).

Ross will be signing a pair of his jammers to go with a photo to be framed up for the school to remember the afternoon by. They’ve already invited Ross to come back after the Olympics to show off his medals!

Oh and the girl in the photo is Ella, Julie’s daughter, and now officially Ross's number one fan, although perhaps she has a little from some of the female teachers!

Xena downunder for Xmas

Team TBB's Caroline 'Xena' Steffen has had an amazing year, with four 70.3 titles, the ITU Long Distance World Champion title, and runner up at IM Kona. She didn't feature on many previews of the big contenders for the IM World Champion title, but we think that might change in 2011.

Xena will be escaping the winter to do some hard training in Australia, but for now, all she wants for Christmas is a new P4 and some swiss chocolate... Wouldn't we all!

Are you Santa or the Grinch? Love Xmas or hate it?

Definitely Santa, love Christmas since I live in AUS and can spend the x-mas days on the beach.

Where are you spending Xmas this year?

In AUS together with my partner Dave and his family. But I also spend some days before Christmas in the snowy Swiss mountains.

Who will you spend it with?

Dave

How do you spend the day? Travelling around or bunkered down at home?

A bit of both.

What’s on your Gift Wish list this year?

A new P4 and some Swiss chocolate

Best present you ever got? (Aside from your blueseventy wetsuit of course)

My little iPod - never leave the house without it

Worst present you have ever got? It’s socks isn’t it….

Vouchers

Got any traditions you’ll be upholding? Carolling? Snow Angels? Bit of backyard cricket?

Glühwein and x-mas Guetzli in Switzerland - big barbie in AUS

What’s your training schedule like around Christmas?

The usual - just planed around the x-mas parties

Do you train on Christmas day, and if so, what do you do?

Last year I had 25th off and a 6h ride at the 26th.

Favourite tipple at Christmas? Do you allow a bit of eggnog?

Glühwein

We do nothing but eat from dawn to dusk at our place – what do you do? What’s on the menu for your feast?

Fresh food like prawns and fish

Do you prefer Xmas in the Snow or the Sand?

Sunnycoast

We’ve got Dean Martin crooning Xmas songs in the office – who will you be singing along to this Christmas?

I am a very bad singer...

Got any tips for getting rid of any excess, er, “Christmas weight”?

Not really, is also a problem for me!

Will you be heading off on holiday anywhere?

I'm just on the way back to Australia

What have you got planned for New Years?

Pleasant evening with friends and Fireworks in Mooloolaba.

And lastly, what’s this year’s New Years resolution?

Remain as I am

Surfing through the holidays...

Greg Bennett might have transfered to the USA to join his wife Laura on the road to the London 2012 Olympics, but Greg is still definitely still and Aussie when it comes to how he spends his Christmas holidays. It's all sun, surf, and sand at the Bennett household this year!

Are you Santa or the Grinch? Love Xmas or hate it?

I don’t mind Xmas… gives us an excuse to catch up with family, eat, drink, and just hang out.

Where are you spending Xmas this year? E.g. whose house, what country?

This year its Xmas in Australia. A small coastal town called Forster on the east coast just above Sydney. My folks have a place up there.

Who will you spend it with?

Both my brothers, their families, my M and D and Gpa and of course Laura

How do you spend the day? Travelling around or bunkered down at home?

Stay at home, actually most of the time at the beach surfing or cricket etc.

What’s on your Gift Wish list this year?

No wish list… got everything I want already.

Best present you ever got? (Aside from your blueseventy wetsuit of course)

First Bmx bike when I was 10

Got any traditions you’ll be upholding? Carolling? Snow Angels? Bit of backyard cricket?

Back yard cricket for sure. A bit of a surf, plenty of food.

What’s your training schedule like around Christmas?

Take a bit of an easy week so we are not to tired to enjoy the family

Do you train on Christmas day, and if so, what do you do?

Probably a light run

Do you prefer Xmas in the Snow or the Sand?

Definitely the beach

Will you be heading off on holiday anywhere?

Drive down to Forster for the week

What have you got planned for New Years?

Back in Noosa, back to training… always part of the World Champo’s body surfing

All in the name of Charity....

At blueseventy, our staff are mostly made up of people that represent the general triathlon audience. We have some pretty fastish athletes, some weekend warriors and some first timers.

Our head of Product, Steve Nicholls, has been around triathlon for about 20 years, but more recently life has definitely got in the way of training. 5am wake up calls are for kids these days rather than swimming, and most of his running is to catch planes, but that hasn't stopped Steve occasionally getting out and “competing” in the local events.

This past weekend he was fortunate enough to head over to Rotorua in lovely New Zealand, to partake in the blueseventy sponsored Rotorua Charity Half Ironman. This is what happened.

When 100%, yes that’s right 100% of your entry fee goes to the local hospice, then you really run out of reasons to not do an event, even if those reasons involve brushing cobwebs off your bike, and checking to make sure things like the tyres are still Ok, and your aerobars still fit (they didn't - I had to buy new ones the day before the race). To say I had prepared well for this event is a bit like saying that the swimming community had prepared well for the tech suit issue. Still, riding a bike is still much like, well, riding a bike so I was pretty confident that I'd at least get to the finish line with a minimal amount of walking.

I managed to get a lift up to the event with the lovely people from Hammer Nutrition and arrived at the registration in drizzling rain, full of gloomy faces and dripping people. The race director, Shane Hooks is a larger than life character, who has probably done more for triathlon in New Zealand than any other person. Shane always puts on a fun event, but even he can't control the weather, so we all were hoping that it would clear up the next morning. A quick registration, and I managed to grab some nutritional products to help me get through the next day (when you haven’t actually done any training of longer than 90mins, it's a bit difficult to try something in training before your event).

Race morning dawned grey with a steady light rain, and after some fuel I was on the bike, all my gear stashed in my blueseventy transition bag (man those things are like the tardis) and riding off to the start. The event is held at Rotorua's picturesque Blue Lake which unfortunately, is at the top of a 5-10km climb. So I was able to clock a few last minute training miles as part of my race warmup. I racked my bike and donned my helix and hustled to the start line.

My swimming was pretty uneventful, the big orange blueseventy turn buoys were easy to pick out with my yellow lens nerorace goggles, and I got out of the water 26 mins later, jumped on my bike and headed off. After plunging down the big hill I'd so recently climbed up, we settled in to a period of flat riding out of Rotorua before undulating roads take in some of the most beautiful lake and bush scenery that the country has to offer. At about the 20km mark I stopped to help someone fix their chain, but it wasn't until the 45km turn around (my longest ride of the preceding 12 months) that I started to feel like this may have not been such a great idea. However, I must say that the impending pain from my bike saddle that I was expecting never really eventualized - the distance tri chamois is fantastic, and I regained my mojo at the 70km mark and was able to get through the last climb without too much groveling. Bike time 2:56.

Off the bike, and into the bush for the start of the run, and after a quick pitstop I managed to find a reasonable rhythm, and found something resembling running legs. The run is absolutely stunning, there is a small section where you have to take a slight detour that force you up a set of stairs in order to take in a lookout that on a clearer day is an awe inspiring sight, but today just showed me that the sun was not going to make a guest appearance anytime soon. The last 5 km of the race through the bush again and I was only hanging on, and trying not to fall over in the gradually muddying single track. I crossed the line pretty destroyed with a 1:40 run and a 5:03 finishing time, grabbed a beer, sat down and lent against the handily placed blueseventy tent staffed by Chanell and Jason (who had also raced and finished a good 25 mins earlier) to avoid falling down completely.

Great event, and a great cause in raising tens of thousands for a local charity. I'm sure I'll be hobbling around the house trying to chase my 2 1/2 yr old around the garden tomorrow.

New suits... new records

The FINA Short Course World Swimming Champs have come to an end in Dubai, and would certainly have to be called a success if you go by records!

Following the rule change to textile suits at the start of the year, the general feeling was that for the first time in a century, there would be no new world records.

But the new textile suits were obviously working just fine – with not just one, but four world records falling at the meet.

First up was the women's 4x200m freestyle relay World Record, set by the Chinese team on the opening day, smashing the previous WR (set by the Netherlands two years ago) by nearly three seconds with a time of 7mins 35.94secs.

Next came Ryan Lochte. Over the course of the meet, the American twice lowered the 400m individual medley by nearly two seconds, and also took one and half seconds off the 200m individual medley. He ended the meet with a total of six gold medals, and was named male swimmer of the meet. His medal tally also combined to a new world championship medal record of 21 medals, exceeding the previous record held by Swedish swimmer Therese Alshammar (17). If you followed his twitter over the course of the meet he certainly sounded like he was in the zone and loving every minute!

Lochte was also part of the men’s US 4x200m freestyle team that had a ding-dong battle with Russia, with both teams besting the previous World Record in the final. But Lochte couldn’t add this to his tally of records, with the Russian team claiming the Gold and the new world record in a time of 6.49.04.

38,000 spectators attended events over the course of the meet, which was more than the 30,000 the organisers were hoping for. Although there were a few bits of bad press with the Israeli visa issues, it sounds like Dubai was deemed a success and may be putting in a bid for the 2015 World Champs.

Ryan Lochte

Photo: Taken by Giorgio Scala/FINA

The Blue Seventy

I love thee more than any pair of shoes.
Thy skin is pure perfection,smooth as silk,
And with my human skin you seem to fuse.
With pure ingenuity you were built.
Some people have said that you are unlawful.
They say you make me go extremely fast.
But I do think those people are quite awful.
Without the ban, your glory days would last.
Your tightness hurts my many body parts,
Yet I will make the painful sacrifice,
For the sake of speeding like flying darts.
Oh Blue Seventy you are so precise.
I will wear thee until I grow old.
Though you are dull black, you are truly gold.

- Kevin of Evanston, Illinois

Brilliant! Your english teacher better have given you an 'A' on this piece.

Mulling over Christmas with Dirk Bockel.

2008 Olympian Dirk Bockel has had yet another solid season kicking off with a second place at Abu Dhabi and finishing the year with a top 10 finish at Hawaii Ironman. No longer flying under the radar when he stands on a start line, Dirk will certainly be one to watch for Kona 2011. We find out how Dirk plans to unwind over Christmas before launching into 2011 training.

Are you Santa or the Grinch? Love Xmas or hate it?
Not too much of a fan, getting the right presents is always a hassle for me and I don’t like to sing in front of people either....X-mas is for the economy nowadays and we should remember the real reason to celebrate it.

Where are you spending Xmas this year?
I will be with my In-laws in Florida in St Augustine and we will be all cuddling up near the fire place and enjoy some good mulled wine under the tree.

Who will you spend it with?
Alicia’s family, the 3 dogs and hopefully the brothers will make it out here as well.

How do you spend the day? Travelling around or bunkered down at home?
Well, I will be back to training again, but the Euro way is to celebrate on the 24th at night (this is the real Christmas btw) and then we do the American way in the morning of the 25th. So we will be busy for a while with the double celebration- but we will be home for sure.


What’s on your Gift Wish list this year?
Well, I still want the Mustang 1966 convertible but as of now, I need to race faster and put all the money in the house to get it fixed up... its an old Victorian house from 1899, so that’s all we have on the wish list for now...I am excited to get some little surprises though...

Best present you ever got? (Aside from your blueseventy wetsuit of course)
well, the goggles, the goggles from blueseventy! I love the basic Element model. Apart from that my best present is that I am happy in what I am doing and the way we live our life!

Worst present you have ever got? It’s socks isn’t it…
Hmmmm, I got sure, I got a lot of shit on the way, but there is always ebay u know. Oh, I remember my old room mate in the US gave me a 12 pack of Smirnoff Ice, and that was the only thing I got as I was away from home and I was really sad after that...

Got any traditions you’ll be upholding? Carolling? Snow Angels? Bit of backyard cricket?
Nahh, just going with the flow here in the US, being passive and doing the family thing. Nothing special, I used to play guitar and my sister played the flute on Christmas, I am glad that’s over now.

What’s your training schedule like around Christmas?
I just restarted, so nothing crazy, just base training and 2 short sessions if I feel ok in the first week, then after Christmas I will try to pick it up so I have 2 months of solid training before my first race.

Do you train on Christmas day, and if so, what do you do?
Well, just a run, as I am sure the pools will be closed again, so maybe a 1h run with some core.

Favourite tipple at Christmas? Do you allow a bit of eggnog?
More like mulled wine with a short of amaretto- you should try that, it’s awesome and works well!

We do nothing but eat from dawn to dusk at our place – what do you do? What’s on the menu for your feast?
Oh no clue yet, I will not be involved in the food planning, but I know I need to start eating better again. Alicia’s Mum Lori is a great cook so I am sure we will get something very special again.

Do you prefer Xmas in the Snow or the Sand?
Oh I love white X-mas, but the last time I had that was back in the days when I was a little kid. I have been trying to do it for many years but somehow it never worked out. Its my dream to be I a small little hut somewhere up in the mountains with my kids and dogs one day and just a big picnic basket.

We’ve got Dean Martin crooning Xmas songs in the office – who will you be singing along to this Christmas?
I will be jamming to the Red River band here from St Augustine, Alicia’s parents are musicians and so its all about the local stars here.

Got any tips for getting rid of any excess, er, “Christmas weight”?
Well, same old- same old: Don’t eat too much, train well and don’t eat too many carbs at night. Very simple to understand but hard to put into action.

Will you be heading off on holiday anywhere?
Nope, just got here to FL, no more holidays till December 2011.

What have you got planned for New Years?
I haven’t even thought about it, not sure yet, most likely a local party here in lovely St Augustine with all of your friends and family.

And lastly, what’s this year’s New Years resolution?
Well, I wanna be a good husband to my wife and make sure we both live a quality life. I would like to reach my potential in Kona in 2011 and therefore will be busy all year with that.

Pic courtesy of Herbert Krabel @ slowtwitch

Swimming with Rasmus

Camp Christmas with Sam Warriner

So day three of catching up with some of our pros to find out what they have planned for the holidays, and we catch up with a Sam Warriner, who sounds like she'll be having a very Kiwi christmas. I think we might swing by for that xmas morning swim and breakfast too...

Are you Santa or the Grinch? Love Xmas or hate it?

I love Christmas to be honest, my husband tells me off 364 days of the year for buying pressies for my friends kids – Christmas is the one time I don't get told off! I just love giving presents to people so I get really into it!

Where are you spending Xmas this year? E.g. whose house, what country?

We're just over a week away and I don't actually know. We got back from a weeks camping in Taupo last night and loved it! We're trying to find somewhere else to go away to for Chrimbo but I have a very important training session on Christmas Eve that I need to do with the coach – so that will be either Auckland or Taupo depending on where he is.

Who will you spend it with?

My husband Stephen and our dog Bo. We'll prob be with my best friend Barts, and her husband Smithy who works with Stephen, and also their 3 kids.

How do you spend the day? Travelling around or bunkered down at home?

It really depends on whether we have people staying with us or not. Basically every other year we have family out from the UK so we spend it with them. But on the years in between (which is this year as they all came out for the wedding last year) we try and stay commitment free. So this year it's trying to just have a laid back day. We've talked about grabbing the kayaks and just paddling down the estuary at the bottom of our property and having a picnic at Patuau – we'll see.

What’s on your Gift Wish list this year?

I met Anabelle Langbein recently when I was on Good Morning TV and ever since I've been trying ALL her recipes, she's got a new book out called 'The free range cook' – I've dropped a lot of hints to Stephen about it so we'll just have to wait and see! To be honest though, I had quite a health scare at the end of the 2010 season and had to have major surgery. It kind of put things into perspective for me and I'm just happy to be making my first Christmas as a married woman, and I'll be enjoying our 1st anniversary on December 28th.

Best present you ever got? (Aside from your blueseventy wetsuit of course)

Haha besides ALL the Blue Seventy wetsuits I've had of course, well I guess I'd have to say my health – I've got it back for 2011 and I intend to keep it!

Worst present you have ever got? It’s socks isn’t it….

God we get some random stuff from the rele's over in the UK?! I can't understand why Stephen's parents send him underpants EVERY Christmas?! For me....I got given a vacuum once...needless to say I didn't end up marrying him and am very happy with the presents Stephen's given me since we've been together!

Got any traditions you’ll be upholding? Carolling? Snow Angels? Bit of backyard cricket?.

Bacon, Eggs n Champagne for brekkie and I love to get an ocean swim in!

What’s your training schedule like around Christmas?

Full on – I've got some catching up to do if I even wanna qualify for Kona – let alone win it!

Do you train on Christmas day, and if so, what do you do?

Yup, if we have no family over from the UK then we'll train. It will probably be limited to just a sea swim this year. 2 years ago was the last time we had it without family and we had just set the date for our wedding. So we thought it would be funny to hand deliver the wedding invites – on Christmas Day - to all our friends in Whangarei. We rode our bikes and ended up doing 7 hours. Stephen had a beer at EVERY house we stopped at, I was a bit more conservative, I still can't believe he made it over Mount Tiger after 7 hours of riding and maybe 15 stops at friends houses!?

Favourite tipple at Christmas? Do you allow a bit of eggnog?

I'll have a bottle of Sav Blanc. When we went down to Wanaka for the Sweat Camp in September we did a big tour of the vineyards on the last day and got some beautiful Sav's. We've done well to save them until now so I'm guessing a few will get drunk over the Christmas period.

We do nothing but eat from dawn to dusk at our place – what do you do? What’s on the menu for your feast?

We've got a REALLY fat turkey in the freezer that we raised from a chic and then gave him the chop about two months ago – I think he's on the menu to be honest.

Do you prefer Xmas in the Snow or the Sand?

Sand. Couldn't imagine going for a swim on Christmas day if I was back in Surrey!

We’ve got Dean Martin crooning Xmas songs in the office – who will you be singing along to this Christmas?

I'm sooooo into Glee at the moment and have been buying their CD's....I was hoping they'd bring out a Christmas Special? Does anyone know if they have.....

Got any tips for getting rid of any excess, er, “Christmas weight”?

That's easy – get Sweat'n.

Go to my website www.sweat7.com and I'll fix you up with a training plan to lose the lard!

Will you be heading off on holiday anywhere?

Every day is a holiday when you're sponsored by amazing companies like Blue Seventy. (Editor: oh you’re making us blush!)

What have you got planned for New Years?

We're heading down to Whangamata to support some of the girls in the Contact Series race on January 2nd. We'll be camping again. When I was in hospital they brought me a newspaper the morning I was released. It had a Kathmandu flyer in it about a massive sale they were having. When Stephen came to pick me up and they discharged me I said 'right we're off to Sylvia Park and Kathmandu and we're off camping this summer!' We've camped in Rotorua and Taupo already, and we're off to Whangamata and then probably Kinloch too....absolutely love it!

And lastly, what’s this year’s New Years resolution?

No more looking backwards...it just gives me a sore neck!

busy season in kiwi-land...

While the northern hemisphere bunker down for a chilly Christmas, and maybe even some snow, the southern hemisphere are grabbing the sunscreen and hitting the summer racing season hard.

bluseventy have already clocked up some miles, attending the weekly State Beach Series and Summer Swim Series Tuesdays and Thursday nights respectively in Auckland, and attending events every weekend.

Here's a wrap of last weekends events we proudly sponsor.

STATE OCEAN SWIM - RUSSELL TO PAHIA

It was a white (or is that blue?) wash in the men's race with blueseventy's top male swimmers taking out all the podium spots in the annual Russell to Pahia league of the NZ Ocean Swim Series. It was a close finish in the mens race, with only 8sec between winner Kane Radford and second placed Bryn Murphy. Steve Kent crossed just over a minute later to finish 3rd. In the women's race it was a much more open race with Charlotte Webby leading Melissa Ingram out of the water but 1min 48sec. blueseventy's Brenda Russell rounded out the podium in third, 16 sec later.

The race was well attended with 646 athletes competing in various distances from the 200m Ocean Kids race to the elite 3.3km open race.

Men:

1 Kane Radford 00:37:33

2 Bryn Murphy 00:37:41

3 Steve Kent 00:38:47

Women:

1 Charlotte Webby 00:40:27

2 Melissa Ingram 00:42:15

3 Brenda Russell 00:42:31

Nice pic (courtesy of David Tate) of Jason giving a, er, very personal fitting of a reaction wetsuit at the Ocean Swim Series.

TAUPO HALF IRONMAN

We've supported the Taupo Half Ironman for a few years now and it was great to see the event grow by 45% from last year to around 1200 participants, including 800 individuals.

Held in the beautiful Lake Taupo, home of Ironman NZ, it started off with a 2km swim in the crystal clear lake water before a 90km mostly flat bike through the dairy flats, and a 21.1km run along the scenic water front.

Terenzo Bozzone took the honours on the line after a decent battle with new comer Matt Burgess, who put in an impressive performance in what was only his second race over the distance. Keegan Williams, back from spending his winter racing for Team TBB in Europe, took out 3rd place. The women's race was won by blueseventy's Belinda Harper in a time of 4:47:50, with Hannah Lawrence second, and Hilary Wicks in third.

Men

1 Terenzo Bozzone 4:06:40

2 Matt Burgess 4:06:56

3 Keegan Williams 4:13:29

Women

1 Belinda Harper 4:47:50

2 Hannah Lawrence 4:48:37

3 Hilary Wicks 4:55:23

The Ironmaori: faster in blueseventy

The Ironmaori (Napier, NZ) is only in it's second year, and has already become so popular it sells out within days. We're stoked to be a supporter of this event that was born from one women's passion to change the poor health statistics of Maori (read the unique story here).

Check out winner Kevin Nicholson crossing the line... racing faster in blueseventy.

Jamie on the cover

Congratulations to our man Jamie Whyte for landing the cover of January's New Zealand Multisport and Triathlete!

But more importantly, a larger pat on the back (fist pump? chest pump? high five? - your choice) is in store because Jamie is now engaged!

Crush it at next month's Challenge Wanaka Jamie!

Follow his adventures on his official website www.jamiewhyte.co.nz or follow him on twitter @jamiewhyte1

Christine Jennings is swimming (and running) faster in NeroTX

We've all been there... you've raced your heart out, you're red-lining and giving it all... and then you have to sprint. It's not just triathletes that face that last minute dash for the line - our girl Christine Jennings had a four way sprint to take the Queen of the Sea (Rainha do Mar) competition on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro.

Christine pipped Brazilian Olympian rival Poliana Okimoto in the sprint for the line - nice work Christine!

Rasmus Henning: Pro Snowman

We thought we'd find out how our pro's like to spend Christmas... and whether out humming carols on the bike or secretly wishing they could avoid Christmas with a convenient month long training camp in some far flung location where the closest they get to yule tide joy is new p.b at a pool session.

First up we talk to Danish Olympic triathlete turned Ironman Rasmus Henning, whose 2010 season included winning Challenge Roth in a very tidy time of 7.52.36.

Are you Santa or the Grinch? Love Xmas or hate it?
Neither or, actually. I enjoy the family time, but don’t particularly enjoy all the fuss before when people put aside a ton of other important things in order to buy exactly the right presents or get the right food.

Where are you spending Xmas this year?

We are flying back to Denmark from our new base at Playitas on the Canary Islands. Christmas eve, which is the highlight of Danish X-mas will be at my wife’s parents’ house in the southern part of Denmark.

Who will you spend it with?

With my wife Anita, our 2 daughters Caroline and Emilie, my in-laws and Anita’s grandfather.

How do you spend the day? Travelling around or bunkered down at home?

I hope to be able to get out of the house to train a few hours during the day. Other than that I’ll be playing with the kids and chatting to the adults.

What’s on your Gift Wish list this year?

A Blue Seventy Reaction Longjohn for early morning pool swims at Playitas. Apart from that, nothing really. I think since I was 15 or so, I haven’t really been in to gifts. As far as I’m concerned we could do very well without them. The kids love it, and they should have some gifts, but for the adults, I don’t really get it.

Best present you ever got? (Aside from your blueseventy wetsuit of course)

Must be when, as a kid, I got some new trains for my modelrailroad.

Worst present you have ever got? It’s socks isn’t it….

Can’t remember, but probably something soft as a kid.

Got any traditions you’ll be upholding? Carolling? Snow Angels? Bit of backyard cricket?

I hope to be able to make a snowman with my kids like we did last X-mas. They have been asking a lot about that.

What’s your training schedule like around Christmas?

Since there is currently a lot of snow in Denmark I don’t expect to be biking much, but I hope to maintain my running and hopefully be able to do some XC-skiing, which I adore.

Do you train on Christmas day, and if so, what do you do?

Hopefully – in order to get out of the house for a short while. Run or ski.

Favourite tipple at Christmas? Do you allow a bit of eggnog?

I’ll drink some beer and red wine. No problemo.

We do nothing but eat from dawn to dusk at our place – what do you do?

What’s on the menu for your feast? Anita’s family have a tradition of eating soup as a starter on X-mas eve before the duck, roast pork and rice pudding. That’s something I like as it takes a bit of the focus away from the fatty and heavy meats.

Do you prefer Xmas in the Snow or the Sand?

Snow.

We’ve got Dean Martin crooning Xmas songs in the office – who will you be singing along to this Christmas?

Absolutely no-one. At Playitas we are lucky enough to avoid X-mas songs. I heard my first “Last Christmas” a few days ago when visiting a furniture outlet, and I’ll be happy to avoid it the rest of the month.

Got any tips for getting rid of any excess, er, “Christmas weight”?

Train, train, train.

Will you be heading off on holiday anywhere?

My week in Denmark will probably end up being so packed with activities, visiting friends and family etc, that it will feel like holiday coming back into my normal schedule afterwards.

What have you got planned for New Years?

With a great bunch of friends in Denmark.

And lastly, what’s this year’s New Years resolution?

Winning Kona!

Win more - come 2nd less: Leanda Cave

Leanda Cave has had yet another strong year, with wins at IM 70.3 Florida, IM 70.3 Miami and Escape from Alcatraz, not to mention five runner up finishes, including most recently at the IM 70.3 World Champs. So due a well earned break, we thought we'd see what Leanda has planned over the holidays....

Are you Santa or the Grinch? Love Xmas or hate it?

Definitely Santa and I love Christmas... I look forward to the next one on Boxing Day!

Where are you spending Xmas this year? E.g. whose house, what country?

Home Sweet Home... if you know my that could be one of 3 places (UK, Aust or USA), so to clear that up, its Tucson, USA.

Who will you spend it with?

My husband Torsten.

How do you spend the day? Travelling around or bunkered down at home?

It will start off with a Christmas Day bike ride to burn off a few calories before we get stuck into the JW Marriott Christmas buffet which is luckily a walk away, so we can have a few drink too!

What’s on your Gift Wish list this year?

I have a million pairs.....but a girl can never have enough shoes!

Best present you ever got? (Aside from your blueseventy wetsuit of course)

A game of Twister......I still have the mat......anyone want a challenge??

Worst present you have ever got? It’s socks isn’t it…

No......a purse......a really ugly one!

Got any traditions you’ll be upholding? Carolling? Snow Angels? Bit of backyard cricket?

Drinking!

What’s your training schedule like around Christmas?

A bit of hit and miss.....I do a workout, I miss a workout. Early season is a little flexible.

Do you train on Christmas day, and if so, what do you do?

A bike ride. Its all about burning calories.

Favourite tipple at Christmas? Do you allow a bit of eggnog?

Red wine and in the evening mulled wine.

We do nothing but eat from dawn to dusk at our place – what do you do? What’s on the menu for your feast?

Its a buffet at a resort, so its amazing food, too much of it, and unfortunately, no leftovers for the next few days.

Do you prefer Xmas in the Snow or the Sand?

Snow. I have converted.

We’ve got Dean Martin crooning Xmas songs in the office – who will you be singing along to this Christmas?

You can’t beat a bit of Frank Sinatra.

Got any tips for getting rid of any excess, er, “Christmas weight”?

Salad for a month.

Will you be heading off on holiday anywhere?

No, we have travelled all year for racing. Its nice to be at home.

What have you got planned for New Years?

Probably a little road trip to the snow.

And lastly, what’s this year’s New Years resolution?

Win more, come 2nd less.

Ironman World Championships video!

In light of the fact that NBC will be broadcasting the 2010 Ironman World Championships next weekend we wanted to get the excitement brewing by sharing a little video we put together. Yes, it is a shameful plug for our new WTC legal swim skin - the PZ3TX, but it's also a celebration of triathlon's biggest day. We hope you enjoy.

I want to go where Bruce Gennari goes for a swim!

Super swimmer Bruce Gennari forwarded us this photo of him going for a swim at Yosemite National Park on route to 70.3 World Championships.

"I still had Clearwater 70.3 on the schedule and needed to get in some kind of swimming. This was a small stream that I attempted to swim in with questionable results. The water didn't flow fast enough to keep me in place (like an Endless pool). Anyway, thought this photo was pretty cool."

Indeed it is! Who's Bruce? Well you may remember him from being first out of the water at the 1997 Ironman World Championships (yes, back in the pre swim skin days).

Christmas lovin'

Usually it's us sending out the goodies to our athletes... so we love it when Christmas rolls round and we get some lovin' back! Cheers to Nick Linton for the sweet treats and quality homemade card!

(Don't worry if you haven't sent yours in already... we won't mind if it's a bit late!)

Xena pips Dumbo at 70.3 Asia Pacific Champs.

teamTBB’s Caroline ‘Xena’ Steffen held off hot local favourite 'Dumbo' to cap off what can only be described as a dream season with a win at the 70.3 Asia Pacific Championships in Phuket, Thailand. However Dumbo was later disqualified on a technicality yet to be released to media. Well that's how we tell the story - here's what apparently really happened...

Xena crossed the finish line with said elephant (apparently maintaining tradition from it's previous name of the Laguna Phuket Triathlon - we like our version better) to win in a total of 4:20:13.

Xena was second out of the swim heading into T1 15sec down on Anna Cleaver, with Belinda Granger coming out in 3rd just over a minute later. Granger kept in touch on the early stages of the bike but Xena soon built a lead, showing her strength with a ride (2.23.02 for the 90km ride) that would have kept her in the mens chase pack, and clocked the fastest female split by 4mins. Obviously no issues with the stray local dogs and chickens for Xena!

She had little to do on the run but still made a respectable run time of 1:27:17 in the high humidity, finishing her 2010 season with an unblemished record in 70.3, bringing her total to an impressive 4 wins for 4. Adding those to her three 2nd place finishes in Ironman this year, most notably at the Ironman World Championships, she will rank No.1 on the leader board for the Kona Pro Ranking.

Results:
Women
1. Caroline Steffen (SUI) 4:20:13
2. Melissa Rollison (AUS) 4:24:53
3. Belinda Granger (AUS) 4:30:49
4. Michelle Wu (AUS) 4:32:13
Dumbo - DQ.

Kate Bevilaqua leaves it all on the course at IM WA

We love Mondays. No really - it's when we grab a big coffee and sit down and re-live the weekends racing. And it's so much more than fast times on results sheets. Check out the effort Kate Bevilaqua put in to win her first ever Ironman title at IM Western Australia.

After exiting the water with over a 10min deficit to Lucie Zelenkova and 8min 10s to Team TBB's Rebekah Keat, Bevilaqua made up for it on the bike, posting the second fastest bike time, catching Keat 15km out from T2, with Zelenkova out of the running having been plagued with mechanical issues, and eventually retiring from the race.

On the run Bevilaqua continued to pull away from Keat, who has had had a huge 2010 season of racing. Bevilaqua managed to run a race best marathon of 3.20.42 to hold on to her lead and take the win. But words don't do her finish justice. Check out this clip of Bevilaqua leaving it all on the course as she crosses the line. Congrats to Kate on her well earned Ironman maiden victory, and to Rebekah Keat for her second placing (adding to what has already been a great season).

the loggers are swimming faster

The University of Puget Sound swim team is ready to take on the competition at the 2010 Husky Invitational in Federal Way, Washington. They are well equipped with the new blueseventy warmups and swimwear. Good luck Loggers!

Suit selector, by bluseevnty.

Thinking about your next wetsuit? Not sure what suit to buy, or why? blueseventy have just launched their new suit selector, which walks you through the type of wetsuit that is right for your style of swimming. While other brands are still trying to follow the antiquated sales model of good/better/best blueseventy has moved to a new way of designing and developing wetsuits. We call it celebrating difference, and a recognition that no two swimmers are alike. It's all about Balanced Buoyancy, and you can check it out now www.blueseventy.com/wetsuits