the fastest get faster

Men's Pro Start in Abu Dhabi (photo courtesy of Triathlete Europe)

It's been a crazy month. Our 2012 wetsuit line has officially hit store shelves, we jetted over to England for the popular TCR Triathlon Show and saw some amazing results from our athletes over the past two weeks.

Highlight of the Triathlon Show in Esher, UK was being named 220 Triathlon Magazine's Best Wetsuit. This was the unprecedented fourth award in a row for the Helix, our top of the range wetsuit, which has evolved during twenty years of thorough research and development. It’s been tested by Olympic champions, world champions and the world’s fastest swimmers and triathletes, and continues to catch the eye on elite and Age Group start lines around the world. It’s the fifth win for the Helix in six years, and you can find all out about the new 2012 version here.

Thank you to everyone who voted for us!

Professional triathlete Clayton Fettell, wearing the new 2012 Helix in the first major event of the year, led out of the water at the prestiges Abu Dhabi International Triathlon. Recently touted by Australia’s Triathlete Magazine as ‘the next big thing’ in long course racing, Fettell has hit the headlines recently after claiming his first 70.3 title win in November, an impressive runner-up finish at Ironman Western Australia, and claiming the win at Urban 2.80.20 in Geelong. We're excited to see Fettell next line up in the star-studded Ironman Melbourne this weekend.

The day continued very well as blueseventy athlete Ramsus Henning of Denmark capped a stellar race by taking home the win in Abu Dhabi. Speaking of stellar races another one of our athletes, Cameron Dye of the USofA, made a strong early season statement by winning the kick off race of the Rev3 Series in Costa Rica by leading from start to finish.

Cameron Dye all smiles in Costa Rica.

We love this - a Seattle training group donned our green Flaire swim wear for an epic 7,000K+ St. Patty's Day swim workout to start the holiday off right!

Nice suit ladies!

These two chaps are sporting our TX1000 triathlon apparel line at the TCR Triathlon Show in the UK.

Nice tri suit fellas!

This weekend will see some exciting racing on the ITU and IRONMAN circuits and we're already getting excited for the kick off LEADMAN event in Vegas and the 70.3 in Oceanside at the end of the month! Keep a look out for more blueseventy athletes leading from the front!

2012 Helix in Abu Dhabi

This weekend's race in Abu Dhabi is much anticipated with a high-firepower field of professionals chomping at the bit to charge into 2012. With water temperatures hovering a few degrees below the cut-off, it looks like a good change it will be a wetsuit swim and we have a number of athletes armed with the newly designed 2012 blueseventy Helix. Dirk Bockel, racing his first race as part of the Leopard Trek team, has been in Abu Dhabi for a few days and we were able to briefly chat with him about the new wetsuit.

Dirk, what did you think of your first swim in the new Helix? "I tested my Helix yesterday in the comfortable 19 degree water here in Abu Dhabi. I noticed free-feeling mobility in the arm and shoulder area, which is especially elastic, and of course I was happy to feel the buoyancy in the legs which helped me to maintain an ideal body position in the water."

What type of swim session did you perform yesterday? "I did a 3k session spiked with small intervals--which were completely comfortable and no problem in the Helix. I was a bit worried since I haven't been swimming in a wetsuit in a while, but it doesn't feel like a wetsuit--it is more like a second skin."

Dirk, this is a stacked field and arguably the toughest field outside of Kona - what is your perspective going into the event? "There is a reason I have been with blueseventy for a majority of my triathlon career -- it is the wetsuit that I feel the most comfortable in when I have to race against the world's toughest field. This weekend I will be doing just that in Abu Dhabi. I am excited to start my season in the UAE-- it is always an amazing experience to be out here and I know I am in great shape--so now I have to let the legs do the talking!"

What Was Your Longest Swim?

We are willing to bet not many have equaled Ben Campbell-Macdonald's endurance swim. He swam the length of Lake Wakatipu in New Zealand. 81kms, 18+ hours in 15 deg C water. The distance is the equivalent of 3 x the Cook Strait crossing. Amazing endurance feat from Ben Campbell-Macdonald. Tools for Ben's success: Helix wetsuit, 7mm hood, neoprene boots, thermals and a kilo of petroleum jelly. Amazing Ben, just amazing. Ben's team provides us with the following pictures-

Careful prep pre-swim and all-smiles

That is a 7mm hood...

Lake Wakatipu is large even in a boat

Truly gorgeous scenery

Epic open water swim.

The First blueseventy Tattoo?

We just completed the "BE THE FIRST" 2012 Helix photo contest last week and this week something pretty remarkable came along that might be another "first". Steve White "The Swimming Gardener" from the UK has taken his love for blueseventy to a new level- a tattoo!
Steve told us his mother suggests therapy... but he prefers to only show his friends the tattoo when it isn't safely disguised under his jeans or his Helix wetsuit. Well, the secret is out now! Steve's love for swimming is remarkable. He has raised thousands of dollars (or British pounds) for an array of charities.
We honor you Steve, not only for your tattoo, but foremost for your charitable work that you tie into your passion for open water swimming. Steve's website is found here: www.swimminggardener.org.uk

Winners of BE THE FIRST

Our BE THE FIRST contest was a huge success. We received so many great submissions we couldn't pick just one winner. We're happy to be sending the first 2012 Helix wetsuits in the northern hemisphere to two lucky athletes. Below are the winning submissions:

Igor Belakovskiy of Concord, MA sent us a beautiful shot of Walden Pond.

"It looks very calm and peaceful here, but trust me, at 5:30am on any summer day it's anything but. From May to September, Walden Pond, is a haven for hundreds of Boston-area triathletes and open water swimmers. From Olympians to Team in Training first timers, fromsprint triathletes to Ultraman competitors, Walden really hassomething for everyone. And if you get there a little early, or stay alittle late, you get to see the pristine beauty that Henry DavidThoreau experienced in the 1800s. What's not to love?"

We love it Igor! The second photo had the staff here at blueseventy pooling with jealously (no pun intended). What an awesome backdrop for a pool! Kevin Dessart of the Colorado Springs Swim School sent us this photo of the Wilson Ranch Pool.

"I think the picture speaks for itself. It's absolutely beautiful and if you can't get motivated to swim at the base of the Rocky Mountains, you should choose another sport!"

Agree. Congratulations Igor & Kevin. Enjoy the 2012 Helix! We loved so many of the photos and videos submitted we wanted to share some our favorites below. Click on the slideshow to see the highlight reel. Thanks to everyone who submitted an entry. Happy swimming!

1 hour swim=4920 yards

Last weekend the San Francisco Bay Area Tamalpais Aquatic Masters swim team took on an hour swim distance challenge. Worth noting was 60 year old Laura Val’s 4920 yards! Her new age group (60-64) is treating her well! Laura also decided to swim the local Quadrathon meet the next day. The format is racing a 500, 100, 200 and 50 free, all within a 2 hour time frame. She managed to set 4 new National Records. Additionally, had the hour swim been in a sanctioned pool she would have broken the 1000 and 1650 on her way. When Michael Moore, Pacific Master’s president and meet head official, who is very familiar with Laura’s accomplishments, noted that she "didn’t look like she was trying that hard", she responded that she had done 3 back to back 1650's the day before. What an accomplishment Laura - swimming faster in blueseventy!

neroXII

Testing, testing and more testing. It may sound tedious but this is how we make a suit swim better than anything else.

It's been a busy 645 days working towards one simple goal: make the fastest possible swimsuit. Our design team has gone on to develop a fabric that's more compressive and water resistant than ever before. We've agonized over fit and obsessed over subtle cut lines. After all, it's in the subtleties that vortexes are created and speed is lost - fit is not something to gloss over. We tested and retested seam profiles in the wind tunnel as well as flume testing because fluid dynamics is one of the most complex sciences and testing in both environments gives us valuable data. Finally we gave it to elite swimmers in three different countries to test and provide crucial feedback.

The result is the newest generation of our Nero competition swim suit, the neroXII, a suit that has undergone more testing and employs more technology than any competition suit we have ever developed. We overlooked no detail in creating the ultimate piece of swimming equipment to help you achieve your fastest swim.

The neroXII is finally available.

Visit neroxii.com to learn more.

BE THE FIRST

2012 is going to be an exciting year. Our new pool competition race suit comes out in less then a week and our brand new wetsuit line will be released in February. In order to celebrate we wanted to launch a short but sweet contest to offer one lucky swimmer an opportunity like no other - be the first to experience the new Helix wetsuit before anyone else!

Entering is easy. Winning is not. Send us a photo or a short video (seventy seconds or less) of your favorite place to swim, whether it is your local pool, your favorite lake or the open water with a brief explanation on why the location tops your list. The team here at blueseventy will choose our favorite and the winner will be announced January 30th.

Submit your entry to firsthelix@blueseventy.com by January 27th for your chance to win. To learn more click here.

The 2012 redesigned Helix stays true to it’s predecessors by offering unparalleled flexibility, comfort and speed in the water, but now adds a split chest panel for easier breathing, more buoyant rubber in the core of the suit, and a refined fit in the neck and shoulders. We’re confident the 2012 Helix is the fastest and most comfortable version yet of the world’s most recognized triathlon wetsuit.

To be the first to learn about our new Nero suit you can pre-register here.

Happy swimming!

blueseventy athlete and aspiring New Zealand Olympian Tony Dodds is one to watch. Since becoming a competitive triathlete in 2005 he has quickly made his way to the top, securing the title of New Zealand Under 23 Champion three times and winning the New Zealand Sprint Championships in both 2010 and 2011, as well as achieving a number of top placings on the world stage.

Enjoy this video put together by Tim Pierce for the Revealing Lake Wanaka series which highlights stories from people who live and love beautiful Lake Wanaka on the South Island of New Zealand.

Follow Doddsy's journey at tonydodds.com

Happy Holidays around blueseventy

We are always thankful we get to work at a terrific company, make cool products, and get to meet amazing people all over the world. Our sponsored athletes are nothing short of incredible. Here are 2 pics wishing us Merry Christmas that were in our inbox today:

Lovely Kate Bevilaqua

Wacky Guy Crawford

John Dahlz- Iron distance swim set

John Dahlz recently lead out of the water at Ironman Arizona with a 46:56 swim. In talking to John post-race, we asked him to share his favorite swim set for 2.4 mile prep. John says, "My favorite workout for ironman training is 800 repeats on a tight interval (ideally your threshold base interval)."

4 x 800 on 9:20(short course yards) descending 1-4 with 2 x 100 IM on 1:30 as recovery after each 800, so it's really 4 x broken 1k's.

"I like 800s because they are long enough that you can get into a rhythm, but short enough you do not get bored. The 2 x 100 IM's break up the set both mentally and physically, but still maintain your aerobic heart rate throughout the set. I think descending the intervals is key for the 800s because it gives you the confidence that you can get through a 4k main set feeling strong. Plus with the IM thrown in, the set goes by pretty quickly and with a w/u and c/d you can get a 5-6k workout in in less than 1.5 hours."

Brownlee named Brit triathlete of the year

In from Competitor magazine.

Alistair Brownlee ( blueseventy ) and Helen Jenkins named British triathlons Olympic athletes of the year.

http://triathlon.competitor.com/2011/11/news/brownlee-jenkins-named-british-triathlons-olympic-athletes-of-the-year_43234

Helen Jenkins and Alistair Brownlee were named joint-winners of the 2011 Olympic Athlete of the Year award.

See the complete press release below:

The prestigious award rounds off exceptional seasons for the two athletes who both finished the year winning their second career world titles in Beijing.

Helen Jenkins also celebrated winning the GE British Triathlon Female Elite Triathlete of the Year award, following a season which has seen her win the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship London presented by Tata Steel and finish second in Beijing, Kitzbuhel and Madrid.

Helen was also a member of the ‘Dreamteam’ in Lausanne that saw the GE Great Britain Triathlon Team win gold in the ITU Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships in the Olympic Capital of Lausanne.

Upon receiving both awards, Helen commented: “I think it’s the third year in a row and it’s so nice that people keep voting for me.”

PHOTOS: A Look at the Lives of the Brownlee Brothers

She added: “It’s great to be in a sport that is growing so much. It’s an honor to be in such an amazing team, there are so many people doing well at the moment, it’s amazing to be part of the sport at this time.”

On an evening aimed at celebrating Britain at its best, Alistair Brownlee was also awarded the GE British Triathlon Male Elite Triathlete of the Year for the fourth successive year.

Alistair won the Madrid, Kitzbuhel, London and Beijing legs of the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series and like Helen was a member of the GE Great Britain Triathlon Team that won gold in the ITU Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships.

When asked about the upcoming London 2012 Olympic Games he commented: “I believe I can be there, and that gives me the best possible chance to win that medal on that day.”

Kona Pier Swim

We turned up for a morning swim at 6:30 am and it seems every pro was out for a splash in the ocean. 

Cam Brown , Lieto, Crowie, Luke Mckenzie, Joe Gambles, Rasmus, Leanda Cave, Kate Bevilaqua, Jo Lawn ... the list goes on. The pack was about 20 with about 18 of them professionals that will be in the hunt  for a top finish. 

For a group of people that are racing each other in a weeks time. They are all friends and some often train together. Being it's still a week from race day , there wasn't alot of tension. Just a group of friends going out for an early morning swim. I'm sure that will change late this week. 

we had a good swim . with the boys and girls stopping to check out the fish...Also  to see if we could touch the sand with-out blowing an ear drum.. equalising is important!!!

 Luke excited, because he had 4 espresso shots in 30 sec's.

 Kate Checking out the fish she's likely to see.

 Fraser Cartmell post swim

 The Swim Start

Being a swim company we usually don't go too far from the water, Or we dry out.
However on the odd occasion we get out for a ride .
On this particular ride i didnt see the wind once, i just dangled in the slip stream of some of the worlds best triathletes. Front = Belinda Granger and Linsey Corbin. Back = Kate Bevilaqua and Hillary Biscay.
Taking the photo = Guy "holding on for dear life " Crawford

Side shot , Same ladies getting aero.

View from " Huggo's on the rocks" just as the sun sets..... thats Kona to me.

Kona Starts Again

Its that time again.

Kona rolls around and some of us have the pleasure to head out early and do a little training "work" before the mayhem of race week rolls in.

I dropped by every-ones favourite cafe to see every-ones favourite cafe owner "Jeff" From Lava Java.
I had to take a Picture from that Famous cafe view.

next up it was time to hit the pool with some of the worlds favourite triathletes

                                           Jeff the Legend

 Next up we hit the pool for session with some of the race favourites, From right to Left .
 Linsey Corbin, Belinda Grnager, Craig Alexander, Luke McKenzie

Luke and Belinda trying to free up and legs with a little kick set

Kate , Stroke looking good.

Guy and Kate, They can actually both breathe water.. Hence no bubbles

Luke knocking out a hard pull set.

Cat Morrison Turning up in her awesome blueseventy swimsuit

Kate Bevilaqua keeping her eye on the clock....

Its been a great few days , hanging out with some of the stars of triathlon, chilling at Lava Java , Watching some amazing sunsets. Looking forward to the rest of the triathlon world to roll into town .

remember you can find us / blueseventy out of the Coffees of Hawaii Boat Tuesday through Friday mornings, At the expo Wednesday through Friday and at Bike Works in town.

See you soon

blueseventy Kona

Spotlight on Kona - Luke McKenzie updates us on "island life"

Aloha! Time is flying out here in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii and I can't believe we have already been out here for almost two weeks since the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas. Every day Kona seems to get a little busier as more and more athletes arrive. We are now inside two weeks till the biggest race of the triathlon year and it will only be a click of the fingers before we are nervously treading water in Kailua Bay ready to do battle at the world's toughest one day sporting event, the Hawaii Ironman.

We have settled in well to life here on the Big Island and the the daily routine has transitioned into a basic existence of train, eat, train,eat, nap, eat, massage, sleep ... Just how I like it! My wife Amanda and I are sharing a condo close to town with our good friend Linsey Corbin from Montana and she is definitely a fun girl to have around. Kona seems like a second home to us these days having spent not only the past six years racing this event but also mid session training camps in May and June for several years. We have built an awesome social network here and it's exciting to return each time and catch up with friends, have BBQ's and feel like we belong as part of the this special community.

My training always kicks to another gear here in Kona. I have been really pleased with the work I have produced since arriving and can feel my body hitting it's stride right on time for the race. This past Saturday I did one of my last big key training sessions leading into the race which was a race simulation. I met a group down at the pier at 6.30am including two time Hawaii Ironman champ Craig Alexander (Crowie), Mathias Hecht, Eduardo Sturla, Jo Lawn and Linsey Corbin who all lay claim to Ironman titles at races around the world. We had a seriously talented group of some of the worlds best Ironman athletes to swim the Ironman course. We also had a friend of mine from my high school days, Brett Carter join us and with his surf lifesaving background he has a serious swimming pedigree. I am sure he will be one of the first amateur athletes out of the water in this year's race. I treated the swim like I was racing and wore my Blueseventy PZ3TX with a race suit underneath. It's important to practice all aspects of the race during this simulation.

A quick transition at the pier and Crowie, Brett and I were off for a four hour ride towards Hawi. Once we hit the Queen Kaahumanu highway the wind was blowing strong from the south and we were flying along almost effortlessly at 40km/hr plus for much of the first hour. This is never a good sign for the return journey, especially when you know that the winds gain strength throughout the morning so the return trip was bound to be a tough one. We made our halfway turn just before the final climb to the town of Hawi and headed back south enjoying a crystal clear day with views of the huge volcano's Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. American Uber biker, Chris Lieto joined us for a while along the Waikoloa stretch and we enjoyed been able to keep up with him for once. The ride back from Scenic lookout was a real tough one as the wind was now in full force and the slight uphill gradient back towards the airport made for seriously tough going. This was perfect as it had really tuned into an Ironman simulation because we were riding at our race pace watts for most of the last hour.

Arriving back at the Kona Aquatic center around midday we quickly transitioned into our running shoes for the last leg of our big training day. We ran a solid 10km out towards the energy lab and let me tell you trying to run with Crowie was tough! I was determined to run with him and I managed to for all but the last 2km. We really have to thank my father Peter for his mobile aid station support out there on the Queen K as the heat and humidity were now in full affect. Our finish line was the pool and it was a very welcoming reward at the end of a tough day of training.

I hope you enjoyed a little insight to training out here in Kona preparing for Ironman. Stop by next week for another update - Race Week!

Four 70.3's in One Weekend

Another big weekend of racing saw four 70.3 races on.
Japan
Syracuse
Branson
and Cancun

For some it was a final Hit out before Kona in 3 weeks time.
For others it was a test to see how the body responded post 70.3 worlds.

blueseventy athletes shined in the water with the men leading out in almost every race.

70.3 Cancun saw Bryan Rhodes lead from the water
70.3 Brason saw Guy Crawford Lead from the water
70.3 Syracuse saw Erik Limkemann lead from the water

Congrats gents.. great swimming

Big Shout out to Ben Hoffman on a great race in Branson. He really showed great form winning over Matt Lieto who also put together a great race one week after  70.3 World Champs.

Boecherer and Sym took out 70.3 Cancun. Sym is having a fantastic year of racing and is rarely seen off the podium.

Aernouts and Butterfield took out 70.3 Syracuse .Butterfield is making a turn back to triathlon after being a pro cyclist and having a baby.. Seems she has only gotten faster. Definitely one to watch in the very near future.
Big congrats goes to our own Paul Ambrose , having raced almost every two weeks this summer and still placing on the podium.

Now it seems the count down is on ... Kona is on the horizon and people are getting there last week of hard training done before taper time.

Good Luck

2011 Kona Slowtwitch Gathering

logo courtesy of the fine folks @ Endurance Conspiracy

blueseventy is pleased to be involved again in Slowtwitch's annual Ironman World Championships party. 'The Gathering' is a unique get-together for athletes and industry folks alike to mingle and chat only a few days out from our sport's biggest event. If you were not lucky enough to attend last year don't miss out!

Muscle Milk / CytoMax are hosting again at their beautiful ocean front home right on Ali'i Drive only couple miles from the finish line (trust us you gotta see this place)! Endurance Conspiracy will be assisting as well and already some fine raffle prizes have been donated from Quarq and LeMond. Beverages, food, pro athletes, music, surprises and a raffle are sure to please this year. Visit the Slowtwitch thread to RSVP! Click here to see photos from last year's event. If you're headed to the Big Island this year be sure to join us in the festivities and swing by.

The 2011 Kona Slowtwitch Gathering

Wednesday, October 5th from 4 PM to 7 PM

Muscle Milk / CytoMax house on Ali'i Drive

70.3 Worlds

It was great day for blueseventy and our athlete Melissa Rollison


She's set the 70.3 world alight this year .
She has only been swimming for 12 months and is already one of the strongest runners in the sport or triathlon.


Come race morning it was blueseventys Leanda cave who lead from the water , quickly followed by Julie Dibens.  Rollison was 3mins down at the end of the swim.
Diben took control on the bike , but it was Rollison who was holding pace with Dibens on the bike and come T2 Rollison had only lost a matter of seconds to the bike powerhouse..


Onto the run it was Julie in First with Melissa in second.
Mellisa started taking huge amounts of time out of Dibens lead and soon enough she had taken the lead from Dibens and was running her way to her first 70.3 World Title.


Rollison made it an Aussie double with Craig "Crowie" Alexander winning the mens


In the mens it was Paul Matthews leading the blueseventy men to the line in 6th Place , with Tim Berkel and Luke Bell in 8th and 9th respectively


Big congrats to all our athletes, Pro's and AG'ers , Well done for qualifying and racing on what was a truely hard course. Hope you recover quickly.
Marines Ironman 70.3 World Championships
Las Vegas, NV, USA / September 11, 2011
1.2m swim / 56m bike / 13.1m run Top 10 men

1. Craig Alexander (AUS) 3:54:48
2. Chris Lieto (USA) 3:58:03
3. Jeff Symonds (CAN) 3:58:42
4. Michael Weiss (AUT) 3:59:11
5. Joe Gambles (AUS) 4:00:00
6. Paul Matthews (AUS) 4:00:26
7. Raynard Tissink (RSA) 4:00:53
8. Tim Berkel (AUS) 4:02:01
9. Luke Bell (AUS) 4:04:03
10. Alessandro Degasperi (ITA) 4:05:09 Top women

1. Melissa Rollison (AUS) 4:20:55
2. Karin Thuerig (SUI) 4:26:52
3. Linsey Corbin (USA) 4:29:25
4. Heather Jackson (USA) 4:30:21
5. Joanna Lawn (NZL) 4:33:08
6. Leanda Cave (GBR) 4:33:57
7. Heather Wurtele (CAN) 4:35:36
8. Emma-Kate Lidbury (GBR) 4:36:14
9. Christie Sym (AUS) 4:36:52
10. Michelle Wu (AUS) 4:37:03 

Janus Charity Challenge

The Janus Charity Challenge People's Choice Award is a competition between five of the sport's biggest stars and their respected charities. blueseventy is pleased to be involved with two great charities involved this year: David Thompson's World Bicycle Relief and Andy Pott's Eleonore Rocks.

David Thompson hammers in the blueseventy Elite Tri Suit

World Bicycle Relief specializes in large-scale, comprehensive bicycle programs by providing supply chain management, technical knowledge and logistics expertise to poverty relief and disaster recovery initiatives. Since it's founding in 2005, World Bicycle Relief has distributed over 75,000 bicycles and trained over 700 field mechanics. You can find out more about World Bicycle Relief here.

Professional triathlete David Thompson aka DKT races in blueseventy apparel, wetsuit, swim skin and goggles. Based in St. Paul, Minnesota David has forged strong relationships with the mid-west triathlon community always being the hometown favorite at the Life Time Fitness Minneapolis Triathlon. His focus for 2011 is the Hy-Vee 5150 Series Championships and the Life Time Fitness Triathlon Series. Follow DKT at his blog.

Professional triathlete Brooks Cowan races for the blueseventy sponsored Eleonore Rocks Triathlon Team

Eleonore Rocks' mission is to make a positive impact on the lives of sick children and their families. ER donates rocking chairs and provides support to impacted families. ER directs its efforts toward the birthing units and hospital rooms in the NICU. Eagerly anticipating doing everything in ER's power to make the lives of terminally ill children and their families the best they can be. You can find out more about the Eleonore Rocks foundation here.

blueseventy is the Eleonore Rocks Triathlon Team's official wetsuit, swim skin and goggle sponsor. Made up of over forty athletes from all over the country they range from professionals to passionate fundraisers for the foundation.

Joining David and Andy are Hunter Kemper (supporting A-T Children's Project), Matt Reed (supporting the Blazeman Foundation for ALS) and Becky Lavelle (supporting Jenny's Light). Whether it’s the athlete or the charity that inspires you, a vote for your favorite competitor can make the world a better place, and the race a better race.

To show your support, simply CLICK HERE and cast your vote today! Voting ends October 1st. The $20,000 charity prize purse will be divided among all charities based on the number of votes each athlete/charity receives by the U.S. Open Triathlon in Dallas.

London's Dextro Energy Paratriathlon.

Blueseventy Athlete and Silver medalist Lauren Steadman reports on London's Dextro Energy  Paratriathlon.


A massive Congratulations to You Lauren.. Well done. 

My race was at 4 on Sunday so i had time to fully prepare and  felt quite professional in my cycles uk kit that was kindly donated to me, i also managed to watch the men's elite, to see how they tackled the course.. but how fast were they... it was impressive! Once they'd finished their race it was time for the Paratriathlon :S nerves were high but i set all the transition area up and placed my bike in the stand and pulled on my blue seventy wetsuit which was my race, racing in the suit but it felt incredible in the water and fitted perfectly! I was ready. I went and warmed up in the Serpentine- it smelt horrid and was all green but it was warm so there was a positive side! 

 

The gun went and i was off, the swim is my strongest area due to my swimming background so i knew i had to gain a lead here. I was first girl out and gained a 2 min lead over the previous world champions and then through to transition was first out on the bike and lead on the bike for the next 4 laps. The bike felt comfortable to ride and i felt pride to ride the moda around the course, and with a bit training and race practise the results can be improved further! And finally came the run the last leg, i was 2 mins 50 secs behind the world champion and had a 2 min lead over the girl in third, so i pushed as hard as my legs would carry me hoping to hold onto second and get closer to girl in front, and when i crossed the line... relief passed over my body- i had done it, my second triathlon secured second in the world, it was a priceless feeling...standing on the podium was a great moment with a silver medal around my neck and the crowd cheering! However this couldn't have been achieved without all the support i received and the fantastic equipment i was supplied with to race- Thank you! 

thank you again for everything you have done for me, i can't describe how grateful i am to Blue Seventy!! 

Thanks,

Lauren Steadman

 

Berkel defends Challenge Copenhagen title

Berkel beats Johnsen in dramatic and close iron-distance racing at KMD Challenge Copenhagen

The final 8 kilometres were run shoulder to shoulder as defending champion Tim Berkel from Australia and home town favorite Jimmy Johnsen of Denmark battled it out for a close and very exciting finish infront of over 100,000 spectators in ecstacy in downtown Copenhagen today.

Fast swims were followed by fast bike times, and after Jimmy Johnsen caught Tim Berkel coming into the final 8 km on the run, the two triathletes tried to do serious damage to each other's legs in the final kilometres - each trying to get the gap that would secure the win.

Finally in the last few km Tim Berkel found the extra speed and pulled away from Johnsen and got a good lead very late in the race which he held on to, to take home his second consecutive title at KMD Challenge Copenhagen. Tim's finish time: 8:11:15 included a 4 minute penalty for drafting, but a 48:24 swim, 4:33:18 bike and 2:46:16 run were enough to take the win.

"I'm over the moon to defend my title because I've never done that before. I love this beautiful city of Copenhagen and the crowd was amazing again this year. Jimmy made me work hard today, I was grinding my teeth towards the end and was going as hard as I could," the happy two time winner Tim Berkel said after the race.

Like many other pros during the race, Berkel incurred a 4 minute time penalty for drafting, but rather than deflate him he launched into run frustrated and determined to not let it hold him back.

"I was a little disappointed of the penalty. I felt good on the bike and Bastie and I rode away towards the end so the penalty was very frustrating. After I served I started running angry and ran a ridiculous pace and had to calm myself down and settle in at a slower pace. I had Jimmy and Dejan breathing down my neck, so I got my nutrition and water in and I think Jimmy had worked hard to catch me. I managed to pull away towards the end but that last 8 km is something you don't wanna do in an iron distance race," Berkel tells us.

For Jimmy Johnsen it was as close as it could be for him to win a race on home soil, but the strong Dane had to settle for second place only 35 seconds back after one of the most exciting iron-finishes of the year. Jimmy Johnsen swam 47:40, biked 4:36:55 and ran a 2:44:02 marathon. The top two athletes recognised great performances from the opponent and hugged at the finish line while third placed Dejan Patrcevic (CRO) crossed the line just in front of Danish future hope Mads Vittrup-Pedersen who took 4th with an amazing 2:38:59 marathon.

Biking powerhouse Björn Andersson (SWE) had a solid swim in 3rd position, hammered the bike for a 4:19:47 best-of-the-day bike split, but faded heavily on the run and withdrew after about 28 km of the run.

Another sub-9 win for Keat in repeat
The women's race was much less close as last year's winner Rebekah Keat from Australia hammered the course like it was 2010 and finished off with a 3:05:02 marathon to reclaim her title with a blistering 8:52:42 finish.

It was her fifth iron distance race under 9 hours, two of them in Copenhagen.

"I tried to focus on having a solid swim and not having to work too hard on the bike. I wanted to try to get my run legs back in this race and run around the 3 hours that is my level so that was great. Each lap the crowd just got bigger on the run, the second lap was good, third amazing and fourth incredible, I have never seen a crowd this big and it was fantastic today," Keat says.

"Despite my big lead late in the run I'm not the type that's backing off, it's not in me, and I always run as hard as I can. I wasn't happy with my last two 3:13'ish marathons, so I wanted to show I could run fast. I'm happy about my marathon performance today but would love to crack three hours again."

Photo credit: Paul Phillips/Competitive Image.

Olympic selection race

Well it was an all Brownlee affair at the London ITU World Series race. 


The race that would see athletes get there first chance to qualify for there respective countries Olympic teams.
The location : , London, 
The task : , Qualify for your countries Olympic team.
The Goal:  For most athletes it was to make the top ten and be the first or second of your countrymen/woman in order to Qualify. 


For Great Britain , you had to finish in the top 3 overall...Not an easy task unless your last name is Brownlee!!


Blueseventys Alistiar Brownlee took the win over  Alexander Brukhankov (RUS)  and younger brother Jonathan Brownlee 


Alistair was off the front on the bike , which is highly unusual for the main pack to let the fastest runner in the field get away. 
I guess with Olympic spots on the line , the goal of winning the race becomes second to the goal of coming top 10 and securing your spot. 


Words from Alistair
“It was great, I couldn’t have asked for more,” Brownlee said. “I think it stayed at 10 or 15 seconds for a couple of laps and then it just went 30, 45, 60, I couldn’t quite believe it to be honest. I knew that we were in danger of being attacked on the bike and I think to be honest me being away served its purpose better than anything.”

Well done Al... Great race
Well done to all the qualifying athletes from all nations.