we love Pilar

blueseventy recently had the joy of signing Argentinian open water swimming legend Pilar Geijo to the team.  Pilar put in a gutsy performance to gain 2nd place at the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix 2010 (Capri-Napoli) in Italy, just 8 seconds behind Italian Alessandra Romitti.


Pilar dropped us a line after the race:


Hi! I am back in Argentina and wanted to tell you my excellent news!  I had an excellent performance in Italy where I was 2nd behind Italian Alessandra Romitti. The race took 7 hours 27 min 06 sec for me, and Alessandra 7.26.58! 


The race was really hard!!! I had an accident in the middle of the race when the boat of one of the other swimmers crashed into my head, making me lose my contact lens (thanks to God I had on my boat one spare pair of goggles with graduated lenses)!!


I'm very happy not only for the final result, but also to overcome all the obstacles.  Thanks a lot for all your support!! I'm very happy to be in blueseventy team!!


This result has allowed me to retain my No. 1 world ranking.  Anyway the circuit has not finished yet and I will continue to train hard so I can give my best on the next challenges.



Warm Regards!!!
Pili

You can read the press release announcing the signing of Pilar here.

blueseventy athletes dominate IM 70.3UK

blueseventy athletes Fraser Cartmell and Bella Bayliss took out the very challenging IM 70.3 UK on the weekend.

Cartmell was 2nd out the water behind Philip Graves after a bit of a scrappy swim. While Graves put on a race best bike of 2.30.24, it was Cartmells strong run that had the race won after the first lap of the run. Despite easing up on the second lap (in prep for IMUK) Cartmell still ran a very impressive 1.17.02 for the win by over 3mins from 2nd placed Graves. This is his third win in five years, and judging by the email we got from his coach, Gordon Crawford, things are looking very positive in Camp Cartmell!

In the women's race it was fellow blueseventy athlete Lucie Zelenkova leading out of the water by over a minute from Emma-Kate Lidbury, but Zelenkova retired on the ride, with Libdury holding her lead into the run.

While it was not to be Lucie's day, the teamTBB girls were on fire! Bella Bayliss came off the bike in third place and overcame a 1.30 deficit to take the win, with team mate Tamsin Lewis claiming 2nd place in her first professional race. Bayliss also won the race in 2008 and was 2^nd runner up in 2009.

New USAT ruling over wetsuit thickness

I think we all new it was coming... the USAT today announced that from the beginning of 2013 all wetsuits used in USAT-sanctioned events cannot exceed five millimeters in thickness (or you get a DQ).


Fear not oh stressed-out athletes - if you own a blueseventy wetsuit you are safe (and swimming faster for it). Our crystal ball has been working just fine - not one of our technical masterpieces are over 5mm thick in any area, so you can swim easy knowing you are wearing one of the most buoyant AND legal wetsuit on the market.

Read all about the rules here

Sometimes it's more than just being tired.

Professional US athlete Justin Park has been battling a little more than fatigue or lack of motivation. We've been keeping in close touch with him over the last few months, and now he's back on track he's posted an update on just what has kept him in and out of doctors waiting rooms and occasionally even in hospital! We're pretty excited to see him on the road to recovery, which we have no doubt will end on a podium or two. Check out his story here Justin Park - Professional Triathlete

David vs. Axis

David Thompson won this battle - not that it was a battle. In fact they got on so well they won the race too. It's proving to be a very popular suit, but then, we knew it would ;)

Thompson Tri: Trinona Course Record

Postcard from Sardinia

Luke McKenzie regularly drops us a line updating us on his latest travels... Hawaii, Brazil... and now Italy. Tough life huh?

Hey guys,

I am happy to report I won the South Sardinia Olympic distance triathlon in Villasimius, Italy over the weekend. After a successful week long training camp with 15 Italian age group athletes in what can only be described as "paradise," we finished with one of the mostly spectacular but challenging Olympic distance races I have entered. In it's first edition, the South Sardinia triathlon attracted 150 athletes mostly from Sardinia and the Italian mainland. I led the race from the gun, exiting the water with over one minute lead and continued to pull away on the bike to go onto the run 8 minutes ahead of the next competitor. Only two weeks after Ironman Brazil and with one easy week of training in Sardinia I was glad to afford the luxury of cruising the run to take in the scenery and cheer for all my new Italian friends.

I really enjoyed the race not because I won but it was very exciting to watch all the athletes who had been part of our camp crossing the line with huge smiles on their faces. They were a really great bunch of people and their enthusiasm and vest for life is contagious! Plans are already well underway to return to Sardinia in 2011 to once again host the June training camp and compete in the South Sardinia triathlon.

Ciao!

Luke

Michael Adams leads out of the swim at Windsor

Michael Adams of GBR recently joined the blueseventy team, and dropped us a note after showing off his new Helix in style by leading out of the water by nearly half a minute ahead of Richard Stannard.

Hey,

Had a great race today. Stannard was there in his new 2XU Project X, we've only raced a few times before and I wanted to really work hard in the water. Got a cracking start, straight into the lead. From there I just got my head down and got into my rhythm.

At the turn buoy (900m) I had a look around and it looked like Stannard was in 2nd place around 35m behind. By the swim exit it was more than 50m, at the T1 timing mats (after a 200m run) it was a 25 second gap.

Ran through transition in first (my suit pulled down so you could see the blueseventy logos on my trisuit :) ) and out onto the bike first. Took the chasing group of Stannard, Jenkins, Noble and Halksworth 1km of the bike to catch up.

Bike was solid, stayed at/near the front and once the group got bigger it slowed down a bit so I broke away for a stint at around 35km. Jenkins rode the group back to me after about 90secs but I tried off the front again. Was nice to feel good enough to push the pace off the front.

Was pretty tired through the run but just kept moving, had worked super hard swim/bike.

Great day, can't wait to see the TV footage. Hopefully got some good airtime for you guys.

All the best,

Mike

ps. some pictures for you :)

www.mikeadams-triathlete.com

Three weeks until Ironman Germany!

Our top Age Grouper, Lucy Gossage from Nottingham, UK, has been very busy with her final preparations for Ironman Germany in Frankfurt. The big goal is Hawaii qualification and things are well on track at the moment. We caught up with her ahead of the big race....

"So 3 weeks to go until Ironman Germany and I'm starting to get nervous. Most of the long training is in the bank now and there's not too much left to do but ease down gradually, eat well, sleep well and keep my fingers crossed for some good luck!

I've had a good last month's training including a middle distance triathlon in the New Forest, the 3 day Tour of Wessex (you can see from the photo that the weather was terrible!), a 3.8km swim race and a 100 mile time trial. I know I can't do anything to get fitter between now and D-day. So it's time to catch up on work, admin and sleep and chill out a bit before Frankfurt! As my friends say time to be normal for 3 weeks...

I rode 4hours 19minutes for the 100mile time trial. I’ll get nowhere near that on race day but I was pleased with it, especially after a massive training block. The course was very fast and luckily the last 25 miles was downhill with a tail wind so it went very quickly!

I’ll let you know how I get on in Frankfurt on 4 July!"

Time is money people!

And this has never been more true than for Bevan Docherty who suffered a penalty during the Hy-Vee Elite Cup in Iowa on the weekend...

Bevan's Race Report - Des
Moines
ITU
World
Cup
Des
Moines,
Iowa,
probably
not
a
place
you
think
would
host
the
richest
Triathlon
in
the
World.


 However,
if
they
put
up
the
cash,
the
Worlds
best
will
come.




Des
Moines
in
the
past
has
been
both
good
and
bad
to
me.

The
first
2
years
I
finished
2nd,
and
last year
a
DNF
due
to
sickness.

The
race
win
and
the
200k
check
has
eluded
me
over
the
years.

Was this
year
going
to
be
the
one?


Going
into
the
race
my
form
was
certainly
on.

I’d
had
a
great
month
of
training
back
in
Santa
Cruz leading
up
to
the
event,
with
no
injuries
or
illnesses
to
give
me
any
doubt.




The
course
over
the
years
has
been
moved
around
a
lot.

It
is
now
settled
out
in
West
Des Moines,
 with
a
fairly
static
course
that
offers
limited
opportunities
on
the
bike
and
generally
results
in
one large
pack
going
into
a
fast
flat
run.




I
got
off
to
a
great
start.

I
was
just
sitting
on
one
of
the
Russians
feet,
making
it
to
the
front
buoy
untouched,
then
just
settled
down
into
my
rhythm.

I
did
get
knocked
around
a
little
in
the
second lap,
however
still
came
out
of
the
water
positioned
well
enough
to
make
front
pack.




On
the
bike
and
for
40km,
it
was
a
whole
bunch
of
guys
jockeying
for
position,
with
no
one
standing any
chance
of
making
a
break
stick.

Finally
with
2
km
to
go,
the
“Clingers”
(guys
that
sit
at
the
back of
the
pack)
forced
their
way
to
the
front.



Now
maybe
I’m
just
getting
old
and
grumpy;
however,
in
cycling
there
is
an
unwritten etiquette
about
your
position
in
the
group
or
wheels
you
can
ride
on
relative
to
who
you
are.

Something similar
needs
to
be
established
in
triathlon,
before
“Joe
Blow”
from
Timbuktu
goes
all
Rambo
on
the pack
and
brings
us
down.



After
surviving
a
very
dodgy
entry
into
transition
two,
I
set
out
on
the
10km
run
at
a
relatively


conservative
pace.

As
expected,
a
lot
of
the
guys
went
out
hard
and
fast,
and
then
began
to fade.

 Sure
enough
by
2km
I
had
eased
my
way
back
to
the
top
3
with
only
Tim
Don
up
the
road
and
was ready
to
pounce!

Just
heading
into
lap
2
of
4,
I
heard
my
number
and
name
cited
for
a
penalty,
THIS CAN’T
BE
HAPPENING!!!


A
penalty
can
be
issued
for
a
number
of
infringements
ranging
from
dismounting
the
bike
too
late,
discarding
equipment
in
transition
in
the
wrong
place,
and
many
other
things.

It
is
a
15


second
stand
down
which
 has
to
be
served
in
the
 “penalty
box”
at
the
end
of
 any
of
the
4
laps
on
the
run.

 15
seconds
might
not
sound
 like
a
lot
of
time;
however,
 when
you’re
standing
there
 it
seems
like
an
eternity.

 Also
the
field
is
so
 competitive
that
the
top
ten
 can
finish
within
a
matter
of
 seconds
of
each
other.

 


I
was
quite
surprised
how
calm
I
remained
through
the
whole
thing,
but
back
onto
the
run
I
had
a lot
of
catching
up
to
do.

I
tried
not
to
go
too
crazy
to
catch
up,
and
now
that
I
was
stuck
back
in
 traffic,
I
found
myself
weaving
in
and
out
of
the
stragglers.

Once
again,
I
bridged
back
up
to
the
lead group
of
runners
by
the
end
of
lap
2
with
Tim
Don
just
up
ahead.

Unfortunately,
I
the
penalty
had
 forced
me
to
use
my
“trump
card”,
and
in
doing
so,
was
not
in
the
position
I
wanted
to
be
in.




At
the
7km
mark,
Courtney
Atkinson
surged
in
an
attempt
to
close
the
gap
on
Don
who
had
$$$’s
in
 his
eyes.

This
was
enough
to
shatter
the
chase
group,
only
Kris
Gemmell
could
hold
the
pace
as
I
 gritted
my
teeth
5
meters
off.

For
the
next
lap
I
tried
to
claw
my
way
back
on,
but
the
damage
was
 already
done.

I
had
to
settle
for
4th,
with
Gemmell
winning
the
battle
for
2nd
and
Courtney
in
3rd.




I
would
later
learn
that
the
penalty
was
for
discarding
my
goggles
in
the
wrong
spot
–
a
very
trivial
penalty.

One
they
have
never
enforced
before,
and
also
a
very
costly
one.

I
will
end
by
saying
that
I
will
never
be
making
that
mistake
again,
and
lost
a
little
sleep
when
I
saw
that
Tim
Don’s
winning
margin
over
me
was
14
seconds…


Optimistic
as
always,
I
believe
you
get
the
good
with
the
bad,
so
I
look
forward
to
great
things
to
come.

Bevan


PS.
I
am
now
on
Twitter
and
facebook,
if
you
would
like
regular
updates
and
to
follow
me
day
to day
@BevanJDocherty


the blueseventy descent

No we are not going down hill... in fact, far from it. The descent is our brand spanking new freediving wetsuit. Yep you heard right. Freediving.

Crazy as most of you might think they are, we love this group of explorers diving to incredible depths in some of the most amazing locations in the world. And when freediving legend Kerian Hibbs stopped by the office for a coffee and a catchup, it got us thinking... and designing.

We sent Kerian the first samples for him to try out in Greece at a World Cup event, and here is the feedback:

I just got back from my first dive in the Descent... OH MY GOD!!! You guys have done it again! Apparently I surfaced after a very easy 70m dive with the biggest grin on my face anyone has seen. That suit is AMAZING!!! People here are now going OFF over it.

To put it into laymans terms and some perspective, I was using (until today) the early prototype suits that you had made for me. In order to dive I would need 2Kgs of weight and yesterday was freezing my ass off after about 3-4mins in the 22 Deg water here. The dive time for my 60m dive yesterday was 1min 20 seconds (Remember 2kgs of weight to help me sink - it's important). Today, in the Descent - 70m deep, NO NECKWEIGHT, 1min 34 seconds AND practically DRY ... therefore did not get cold at all.

The compression in the legs is AWESOME, the neck seal is AWESOME, the extra stretch in the chest is AWESOME - seriously I could wear the word Awesome out just describing this suit. I already have 5 pre-orders just from the people on the boat with me today! This thing is going to go OFF.

So, now I have to relax, try and chill some of this excitement off and allow people to try them out for themselves.

You guys are legendary!!!!

Cheers, Kerian

...Oh stop it Kerian - you're making us blush!

Unbeatable Brownlee

It will take more than an injury and a couple of months off to stop Alistair Brownlee's winning streak.

We were all on the edge of our seat to see how Brownlee was going to perform in his first race since the series Grand Finale in September last year. Al had got himself a pesky stress fracture in his femur, but I don’t think anyone could tell as we watched him run shoulder to shoulder with Courtney Atkinson down to the last 400m where he pulled away to take his 5th win in the series since it’s inception last year. Courtney finished 2^nd with Olympic bronze medallist Sven Riederer surging away from Javier Gomez to take 3^rd. Javier who is also returning to fitness after injury had to settle for 4^th. Portugal's Joao Silva and Olympic Gold medallist Jan Frodeno were in the mix through most of the bike until they missed the breakaway by 11 athletes that would develop a 90-sec lead heading onto the run. Silva ran the fastest run split of the day of 30.57 with Frodeno clocking the next best time of 31.08, but they had to settle for 6th (Frodeno) and 7th (Silva).

In the womens race Nicola Spirig showed that taking time out to finish her law degree has not dented her ability, taking the win after running away from French athlete Emmie Charayron who was last years U19 World Champion. Great Britains Helen Jenkins took 3^rd place.

For the full race reviews check out www.triathlon.org

Follow the Swallow...

Been wondering about what Jodie Swallow plans to do after winning the ITU Long Distance World Champs? Much to the surprise of some, she's not following the 'usual' path of going long, but is making a bid for selection for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Jodie drops us a line fairly regularly about what she has been up to, including making the bold decision to move her base to Switzerland. You can read up on what she's been up to and her plans for the future in her recent interview with Triathlete-Europe.com (here), or get yourself a regular update from her website and blog at www.ifollowtheswallow.co.uk.

don't take our word for it...

We love this kind of thinking... wanna see just how much faster you will be swimming in blueseventy? Test it like Scottish Elite Triathlete Mike Adams did - check out it out here.

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