Update from Rome (again)

Its been a busy week , the open water races are the only events on at the moment ,
But that doesnt stop the mayhem at the pool . We have been extremely busy making sure all the swimmers are kitted out and confident leading into there events. (wheather that be pool or open water)
See attached photo’s:

1) Brian Ryckeman and Maarten Van der Weijden talking about the mens 10k race afterwards
2) The booth where we have been providing suits for the swimmers during the week leading into competition. ( it's like sitting in a sauna down there)
3) Brendan Capell ( minutes away from the start of the men's 25k ) He's out there racing right now and one of the top favorites for the win.
I'll keep you posted with results.
The blueseventy nero 10k has been the choice of suit for open water swimmers with the majority choosing the wear our suits no matter the distance 5, 10 or 25 k.

ROME day 3 but really day 1.Reporting : Guy Crawford – and the ever chatty Dean Jackson

The first day has seen a phenomenal success for all athletes wearing the blueseventy 10k swimskins.

Results: Bronze Medal for POLIANA OKIMOTO ( Brazil) in the Women’s 5km competition
Sadly no medals in the men’s race but with the blueseventy nero 10k suit being the only Open Water specific swimskin it was clear which swimsuit was the preferred brand.

Activities:
Maarten Van Der Weijden Olympic Gold Medalist joined myself (Guy) and Steve Munatones to give a live twitter update of the race that was witnessed by several thousand (so our sources lead us to believe)
We helped Maarten to gain a VIP pass for the duration of the event (can you believe a Gold Medalist didn’t get one!!) For this Guy had to show a nipple….

Additionally, strong and future profitable alliances were made with all National Governing Bodies partaking in Open Water events (Specifically GB, USA and Brazil)

Further conversations with the BBC are looking fruitful for a televised piece from our living room showing all our suits on Thursday. For this Guy had to show other nipple….

Update: Found that Italy does not believe in the internet, IT has a different meaning here. BUT we will find a way for more in-depth reporting following another day in the water. (thanks to Jane in our New Zealand office for typing this up via phone)

Signing off 10.50pm ROMA time 2009AD

Rome

I've made it to Rome and wow it's been a busy few days
The traffic here is enough to stress any-one out, I think it's warming me up for my travels to Asia.
being a cyclist here would scare me and i was a bicycle courier for 4 years... i think thats saying something...but when the rules are ... "there are no rules"...... it gets scary. (half of me still likes it ) but i must be getting old cause i'm more cautious.
Good news on the traffic front , i got really lost yesterday and drove to the Colosseum .. which was awesome. ( i filmed it whist driving very badly)

Then i slept like a dead man.
And here begins day two,

Today was an epic day of meeting swimmers coaches and some managers.
I love hanging with these open water swimmers, for top end swimmers they are just so mellow.
An example , All of there races have been postponed due to bad seas, no-one knew where the new event would be held until this afternoon and no-one really seemed to be upset.. they all just said "ohh well have to train for a few more days"....Great guys and girls thata these open water swimmers are.

Featured in the Picture with yours truley is Poliana of Brazil, a very accomplished open water swimmer and Olympian. Not to mention an awesome person and peir amoungst the open water swimmers. (hopefully i'll be able to get some swimming shots of her over the next few days)
i'm sure she's going to rock it.

I have a few video clips that need posting , so i'll get on that tomorrow.
Cheers
Guy

Rome

Matt Lieto Strikes it!!

This pic is in Canadian Triathlon Magazine,

Its the beautiful Matt Lieto Striking his warm up pose before the start of Ironman Canada.
Nice one Matt.
Send me a pic if you think you can out pose Matt lieto... its a tall task!!
guy@blueseventy.com

G

She did it again

Chrissie Wellingotn did it again today,
She won yet another Iron distance race and in the process set a new world record.
be be the new world record holder you know have to go 8:31:59. well actually you have to go one second quicker.
The race was made interesting , by Bek Keat having a slightly quicker run split than Wellington and finishing just seven mintues down. Then there was Catriona Morrison placing 3rd in her first ever Iron distance race. All these talented athletes are of course wearing blueseventy.

More photos to come.
See above , Chrissie smiling as she does during the marathon.

G

Swim day part four

Now we have Ain-Alar,
This guy can ride a bike and had the fastest bike split at Kona last year !!
So while alot of eyes will be looking at Normann, Ain is certainly going to be tough to out-split during the bike. For a guy thats weighs 100kg, he can still run 3 hours or even sub 3 hour marathons off the bike!! Impressive!!!!...very impressive!!

swim day part 3

Third was Richard Uusher,
A new edition to the blueseventy family, yet probably one of the toughest guys out there,
Having been the world adventure racing champion on more than one occasion , his hurt box is pretty massive , Imagine racing for 7 days and getting and average of 2 hours sleep a night..(sleeping on rocks and in dirt)
yeah .... ouch.... he thinks Ironman is pretty short!! haha ..

swim day part two

Next up was Chris McDonald, he had a win at Challenge Wanaka this year and is looking good. He's downsized his wetsuit, so he's either shrinking or getting real fit.
Nicest dude, always good catching up with him.

Swim Day part one

turns out today was the day to swim ...as you'll see above

I went down tot the swim start and thought i probably wouldn't bump into any of our pro's.
How -ever lucky me i was wrong again.

As i arrived i saw Merryn Johnston getting into the water, A pro from New-Zealand who also happend to be fluent in German and very awesome.

In Roth with Chrissie

Went down to the pool today for a wee swim with none other than Chrissie Wellington, Ohh how i love to name drop.
Nah.. seriously , it was a good session and Chrisse owned me, i blame German beer and my lack of wetsuit....oh and having no muscles... ( i guess you can see the picture)

later we went for a ride on the bike course and got rained on about 5 times. ideal.
Good day hanging with the champ!! sorry no bike pic's as of yet... the rain and camera's don't really mix well.

She is looking crazy fit and ready to rock.... im scared for the pro men...
G

IM Frankfurt , and another blueseventy win

In yet another exciting day of racing in Frankfurt, Blueseventy’s own Timo Bracht set a course record in winning his second Ironman European Championship, while Sandra Wallenhorst won the much-anticipated showdown with Yvonne Van Vlerken to take the women's crown in Frankfurt.

Bracht used a blazing 2:43 marathon split to run his way to the men's title today, passing Eneko Llanos with seven km of the marathon remaining and flew into the spectacular finish here at historic Romer, setting a course record with his 7:59:16 finish. Bracht had started the run with last year's champion, Chris McCormack, about three minutes behind Llanos, who had remained ahead of the two men after the swim and through the entire bike ride. Bracht looked like he would have to settle for third after the 2007 Ford Ironman World Champion surged away from him and caught up to Llanos, who finished second to McCormack here a year ago after dueling with the
Australian through the marathon.
























Just when it looked likeMcCormack was goin to run his way to another win here in Frankfurt,
he suddenly stopped because of cramps. Bracht flew by McCormack and surged past Llanos into the lead. McCormack hung on for third, followed by Andreas Raelert, who had led for parts of the swim and bike today before slowing dramatically at the start of the marathon. Raelert,
competing in only his second Ironman, gathered himself and finished a solid fourth. Rounding
out the top five was Mathias Hecht.

1	Bracht, Timo	10/3/1	34/MPRO	00:47:45	04:24:51	02:43:06	07:59:15
2	Llanos, Eneko	2/1/2	33/MPRO	00:44:59	04:24:24	02:47:21	08:00:21
3	Mccormack, Chris	11/4/3	35/MPRO	00:47:46	04:24:52	02:46:59	08:03:05
4	Raelert, Andreas	1/2/4	33/MPRO	00:44:56	04:26:38	02:48:10	08:03:29
5	Hecht, Mathias	3/5/5	29/MPRO	00:44:59	04:27:34	02:55:23	08:11:56

Normann Stadler

I arrived in Germany safe and sound, I know alot of you were worried. hmmm
Anyway on to more important news.

Today Normann Stadler came in to see us , it's just over a week before his start at Challenge Roth,
He looks fit and relaxed.
The new addiction to his family a baby boy seems to have mellowed him out. He is a very proud dad.. this relaxed Dad is definatley looking like he's ready to roll next weekend.

Everything seems to be working in Stadlers favor this year, He has a new team ( commerzbank) some great teams mates, a solid training block and a quiet baby that likes to sleep. What more can he ask for ? it's a perfect build up to Challenge Roth.

I think this is one of the first times i've had a normal relaxed chat with the two times IM world Champion. It's hard to get a relaxed man , when you meet him right before the biggest race of the year (KONA)
But this time round we found ourselves talking about other athletes and generally gossiping. (as triathletes do) all good stuff though!!!
A really nice guy, who happens to be damn fast.... i guess thats an understatement... but you know already...

I was going to talk smack to him and tell him i was going to ride him off my wheel, but we all
know i would have just looked like an ass...maybe next time.
I should be meeting Normann again early next week, so i'll keep you posted

Cheers
Guy

Photo's Normann, Guy and Normann

PS: that cut on my nose, was an unfortunate accident, i had a bad dream and woke up suddenly , got a fright , then slammed my head into the side of the couch. Nose bleed and everything. Haha, kind of funny in hind sight. only in hind sight mind you!!!


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