Monday, June 21, 2010

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

Sunday, June 20, 2010

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

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

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 ;)


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


Tuesday, June 15, 2010

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 :)


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!"

Monday, June 14, 2010

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



Wednesday, June 9, 2010

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!

Monday, June 7, 2010

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 2nd with Olympic bronze medallist Sven Riederer surging away from Javier Gomez to take 3rd. Javier who is also returning to fitness after injury had to settle for 4th. 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 3rd place.

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

Thursday, June 3, 2010

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.


Wednesday, June 2, 2010

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.