Posted in: Products & Equipment

Master Piece for the Wounded Warrior Project and Por Ellas

28.Aug.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Products & Equipment   |  (1) comments

In support of the Mexican American Unity Swim in Lake Powell, Arizona, Craig Baskin created painting entitled H2O Unity.

"I created the painting to help raise funds and awareness for all organizations affiliated with the non-stop three-day six-person distance swimming record attempt," said Craig who donates 100% of the proceeds to the Wounded Warrior Project in the United States and Por Ellas in Mexico.

To submit a bid, go to the event website.

Swimming With Angels In The Open Water

14.Aug.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Products & Equipment   |  (5) comments

Swim Free, a preferred charity of NYC Swim, helps improve the health of children and adults through learn-to-swim, water safety and water cleanliness programs. Swim Free recently started an innovative Swim Free Angel initiative.

The Swim Free Angels, clearly distnguished from the other swimmers in their in differently colored swim caps, helps comfort people of all ages who are anxious in and around the water by providing shore-side and in-the-water support, offering encouragement and coping mechanisms to help people overcome their fears.


Swim Free launched its new program at the 2010 Governors Island Swim in New York City where Angels took anxious swimmers under their wings and helped them achieve their initial open water swimming goals. "It was an outstanding success," reported Marjorie Spitz, Executive Director of Swim Free.

As part of this Swim Free Angel program, Dr. Stacey Rosenfeld, Chief Psychologist of the NYC Triathlon, provides the following advice to anxious and new open water swimmers to help them overcome their fears:

If you’re feeling anxious:
• Take some deep, diaphragmatic breaths
• Scan your body for tense muscle groups and try to relax those that are tense
• Close your eyes and picture yourself in a relaxing place (i.e., the beach, the woods); focus on all your senses in this place—what do you see, smell, hear, feel, taste?
• Remind yourself of all your training and hard work
• Focus on what you need to do during your race, rather than the actual outcome
• Try distracting yourself with pleasant thoughts about family, friends, or events

• Talk about what you’re feeling
• See if you can challenge some of your anxiety-related thoughts
o For instance, what’s your greatest fear? What’s the worse case scenario?
o How would you cope with this scenario?

What to do if you feel anxious or fatigued during the swim:
• Tread water, or float on your back
• Switch to an easier stroke (elementary back stroke, side stroke, doggy paddle, or anything that allows you more breathing time than the crawl)
• Remind yourself of your training and understand that getting all worked up will not help you in this situation—instead, try to take a few deep breaths (don’t worry about wasting time) and then continue on with your swim

Dr. Rosenfeld advises that if you find yourself with muscle cramps, breathing difficulties, etc., follow the instructions above, while doing a visual search for the nearest rescue boat. It’s a good idea to familiarize yourself before the swim with where the rescue workers are.

She continues, "Many of the principles that are discussed with racing are applicable to other areas of life (e.g., work, relationships, etc)."

• Accept where you are: Remember, even professional athletes have good and bad days. Expecting the best out of yourself at all times is a dangerous proposition. Familiarize yourself with the art of radical acceptance.

• Practice, practice, practice: With anything, the more you do it, the better you’ll become. Similarly, you will develop self-efficacy (confidence in that particular task), which can only serve to improve performance.

• Set goals of variable levels and continue to adjust them as you compete and as you see improvements in some areas and identify others that may need work.

• Recognize self-defeating patterns: Be aware of how you might catastrophize or plan for negative events with little to no evidence. Thinking in this way can actually cause negative events to occur (e.g., panicking about not being able to swim will negatively impact your swimming) and certainly results in anxiety and depression. Try to challenge negative thoughts with more realistic, evidence-driven ideas.

• Focus on the process, rather than the outcome. A good race is one in which you challenge and enjoy yourself, not one in which you beat out your biggest rival.

• Plan ahead: Survey the course beforehand. Know what you’re up against, and strategize before the fact in order to increase your chances of success.

• Envision where you want to be: If we can imagine ourselves performing successfully, there’s a better chance this will occur. Take time each day to do so.

Having Swim Free Angel on the course is practical, useful and creative.

Protecting Our Ocean With Project Kaisei and Expedia

4.Aug.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Products & Equipment   |  (3) comments

From California to Hong Kong, singer, model and spokesperson G.E.M. is carrying her hopeful message of protecting our increasingly polluted oceans from becoming a global plastic waste dump. G.E.M. explains her role with Project Kaisei here in Chinese with English subtitles that includes video clips from the USA Swimming National Open Water Swimming Championships in Long Beach, California.

You can also do your part to help protect our oceans when you make your hotel reservations on the new Expedia website.

Click on Project Kaisei to get a 8% rebate back to Project Kaisei.

Shooting blueseventy

3.Jul.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Products & Equipment   |  (0) comments

Tim Calver is a freelance photographer based in Miami Beach, Florida whose outstanding work has appeared in Time Magazine, Outside, Caribbean Travel and Life, Scuba Diving Magazine and National Geographic Adventure. Among his many techniques, Tim freedives to capture amazing images underwater. It is fantastic work that dramatically captures his connection with those who connect with the water.

No wonder why blueseventy uses him. View his work here.

A blueseventy Team That Tough To Beat

30.Jun.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Products & Equipment   |  (1) comments

Pilar Geijo joins English Channel world record holder and Olympian Petar Stoychev on the blueseventy elite team.

Pilar, an emerging 25-year-old marathon swimming star from Argentina, recently signed with blueseventy after being ranked second in the 2009 FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix rankings and leading the world rankings this year.  Following in the footsteps of great Argentinian marathon swimmers from the past - Horacio Iglesias, Claudio Plit, Diego Degano, Antonio Abertondo, Alfredo Camarero, Pedro Candiotti, Silvia Beatríz Dalotto and Lilian Harrison - Pilar will similarly make history.

Pilar and Peter both won the 16K FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix in April in Sumidero Canyon in southern Mexico.  Earlier in the year, Pilar won the longest race in the world, the 88K Hernandarias-Parana FINA Grand Prix event in February while setting a new record time of 8 hours and 34 minutes. 

This past weekend, she was an extremely close second to Italian Alessandra Romiti, by just eight seconds over 36K of ocean swimming from Capri to Napoli.

Dean Jackson of blueseventy said, "We’re working with some inspirational athletes at the moment, and are delighted to welcome Pilar to our team. She’s had some great results this year and her input can only help strengthen the development of our bespoke open water swimwear.  blueseventy is currently the only manufacturer making suits specifically for open water swimmers. It’s a sport that we are completely immersed in, and we’re genuinely pleased to be working with Pilar, who is as tough as they come in the sport."

Pilar, Petar and blueseventy - that's a tough team to beat.

Earn A Travel Relief With Project Kaisei

23.Jun.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Products & Equipment   |  (0) comments

Doug Woodring and his colleagues at Project Kaisei are doing all they can to help clean up the ocean's waters.

Project Kaisei was added to a new Expedia travel site called Travel Relief.

If swimmers and their friends and families click on Project Kaisei while booking their hotel reservations on Travel Relief, then Project Kaisei will receive 8% of each booking.

"This could be significant and a wonderful way for the open water swimming community to support the health of the oceans without having to actually dip into your own pocket," explained Doug. "We appreciate everything our supporters do to help us to improve the health of the ocean. Our focus is on marine debris, mainly floating plastic, which most of you have seen on any beach that you may have visited. This has negative impacts on the ocean ecosystem, and Project Kaisei is helping to find ways to improve this situation, both in terms of raising awareness, but also in bringing together science, technology and new innovation to create ways remove some of the plastic from the ocean, and to deploy new ways to remediate it."

The goal of the Travel Relief program is to help non-profit organizations like Project Kaisei to raise money for good causes by providing their supporters with a way to book hotels at great internet rates and donate money at the same time. Customers can book over 50,000 hotels worldwide.

Travel Relief program also offers its supporters travel deals and discounts via its Facebook group and Twitter feeds.

So on your next trip, please click here to get started.

Bon voyage.

Fast Water Quality Testing in California

19.Jun.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Products & Equipment   |  (0) comments

As the world continues gets more polluted and the sport of open water swimming continues to grow, these two phenomena will eventually clash.

But a new revolutionary testing process looks to help protect marine enthusiasts in potentially contaminated waters, initially in Orange County, California, and eventually around the US.

Tony Barboza of the Los Angeles Times reported on a revolutionary new water quality test that is being rolled out in Southern California.

Depending on the typical water quality tests done around the world, water quality test results can take days or weeks to complete - often too late to adequately protect swimmers and surfers.

The new testing method, developed by researchers at the University of North Carolina to be implemented by the California State Water Board Researchers and Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, a local research institute, has been in the works for ten years and required nearly US$8 million in investment to monitor water quality.

The two-hour process - from water collection to wireless distribution of information to the public - is being demonstrated by the that hopes the methodology is adopted nationwide by 2012.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the roll-out period will include five tests per week during July and August at the popular Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and Dana Point. With 110 million annual beach-goers to the Southern California coastline, the ability for cities to quickly test the water has significant impact and implications, especially open water swimmers who are the most exposed individuals in beaches worldwide.

By collecting, analyzing and monitoring the water quality in near real-time, beach closures will be quicker - as will beach reopenings. Both decisions will be greatly appreciated by open water swimmers off the Southern California coastline.

"The holy grail would be a probe you could stick into the water that gives you an instant result," said Rick Wilson, coastal management coordinator for the Surfrider Foundation. "But this is the best we've got for now."

Which is much-appreciated improvement. Let's hope the tests pass with flying colors and will be expanded nationwide and worldwide.

Pakboats, Serious Gear for Serious Swimmers

14.Jun.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Products & Equipment   |  (0) comments

Be careful. Watch for boats. Keep an eye out for Jetskiers. Swim with a buddy. Swim in groups. Never swim alone.

These are safety tips known by all open water swimmers.

If you have a coach, trainer, parent or friend who is willing to head down to the shoreline with you, you may want to invest in a Pakboat, a folding or inflatable canoe or kayak that you can pack for travel and take anywhere. The Pakboats are light, sturdy, easy to assemble and disassemble, and are remarkably compact. The roomy Pakboats, the brainchild of Alv and Linda Elvestad, enable you to swim safely with an escort anytime, anywhere.

"They are great. We take our Pakboat everywhere," said Jack Fabian, coach and father of Eva Fabian, one of America's top open water swimmers who has traveled to Brazil, Argentina, Florida and California this year.

"I take it with me on the plane or in the car and assemble right on the beach or lake. It's really light and the swimmers can swim safely and confidently knowing that I am right escorting them all the way. It is great exercise for the coach, too."

Sounds like a great present and must-have for the seriously committed marathon swimmer.

Can’t Miss These Turn Buoys

13.May.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Products & Equipment   |  (0) comments

These large 2-meter high x 1-meter wide turn buoys by blueseventy are hard to miss in open water races and are another step towards making open water swimming courses more easily navigable.

We foresee the next-generation turn buoys will be well-marked (e.g., buoy #1, #2, #3, etc.) that will enable the athletes to know precisely where they are along the course.

We also foresee race directors marking the half-way point (and the kilometer/mile points) so athletes and the media can know where the swimmers are during the race.

Open Water Preparation Station in California

12.May.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Products & Equipment   |  (1) comments

TRISWIM will provide two unique stations with its innovative products for the athletes at the 2K and 4K Open Water Pursuit races in Marine Stadium in Long Beach, California on June 6th.

Before the race, TRISWIM will set up a 'Preparation Station' where swimmers can lube up with TRISLIDE, a very effective alternative to Vaseline and lanolin.

Swimmers can also do one last cleaning of their goggles with FOGGLE, a convenient anti-fog towelette that both cleans and defogs the goggle lens.

After the race, TRISWIM will provide a 'Clean-up Station' where swimmers can wash off the salt water in a warm shower with TRISWIM shampoo, TRISWIM conditioner and TRISWIM body wash.

In the Clean-up Station, swimmers can also quickly and effectively remove the black ink from their race numbers with the multi-use FOGGLE towelettes.

Clean before, clean after: excellent products to tri.

Pool-Mate, Automagically Counting Laps and Strokes Per Lap

10.May.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Products & Equipment   |  (0) comments

Pool-Mate is one of the most innovative and useful products to hit the swimming market in years. It is selling off the shelves - especially to those who prefer to focus on other things other than counting laps.

It is most interesting (and magical) how the intelligent Pool-Mate watch automatically knows how many laps you are doing, how many arm strokes you are doing, how far you have swum and the number of calories you have burned while you swim.

The watch does what it does because it contains accurate motion sensors and unique software algorithms that automatically recognizes each swim stroke and change of lap. The Pool-Mate displays and stores Lap Count, Time, Average Strokes per Lap, Speed, Distance, Calories and Efficiency data.Olympian Nick Gillingham gave a very positive review of the product (see below).

With over 10,000 watches sold in over 60 countries since it was first launched, CEO Lisa Irlam has been recognized for her vision and business acumen, being named Innovator of the Year in 2009 by Enterprising Women.

The only thing an open water swimmer could additionally want from this outstanding product is a water thermometer function - but since it was developed for pool swimmers, it certainly achieved its goals.

FINA’s New Website Is Launched with New Features

3.May.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Products & Equipment   |  (2) comments

FINA has launched a website with a new image and improved navigation tools for swimming, diving, water polo, synchronised swimming and open water swimming.

The website will also have e-commerce capabilities, allowing the purchase of FINA articles online, and an E-Learning program, prepared by top FINA coaches.

The E-Learning program will be created by the FINA Coaches Commission which includes such famed coaches as Argentina's Osvaldo Arsenio (Chairman), Sweden's Johan Wallberg (Vice Chairman), America's Mark Schubert (Honorary Secretary), Portugal's Luis Liberato Baptista, Italy's Franco Giorgio Cagnotto, Egypt's About El Ella Abdel Fatah, Spain's Juan Jane Giralt, Canada's Pierre Lafontaine (who will speak at the Global Open Water Swimming Conference in California), Great Britain's Elisabeth Price, Australia's David Urquhart, Netherland's Jacco Verhaeren and China's Shaozhen Zhong.

Photo shows the feeding station at the 25K race during the 2009 World Swimming Championships in Ostia, Italy.

An Almanac of Open Water Swimming

1.May.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Products & Equipment   |  (0) comments

A special Open Water Swimming Almanac - full of unique and largely unknown information, data, charts and photographs of special interest to swimmers, coaches, triathletes, administrators, fans and officials - will be provided to the participants in the Global Open Water Swimming Conference that will be held in Long Beach, California on June 5th.

The Almanac will include a wide variety of information including The Top 100 Open Water Swims in the World, the Open Water Swimming Dictionary, Rules of Open Water Swimming, America's Top 50 Open Water Swims, The 50 Most Amazing Open Water Swimming Websites, Great Open Water Swimming Books and Movies, Cool Open Water Swimming Products and Technology, Open Water Swims of the Future, The Four Feeding Steps, Pool Open Water (POW) and many other bits of interesting bits of data, charts and information.

The Story Behind StingMate

29.Apr.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Products & Equipment   |  (0) comments

Smithwick's StingMate® is one of the sponsors of the Global Open Water Swimming Conference. The StingMate product will be offered free to the athletes at the Open Water Pursuit and USA Swimming National Open Water Swimming Championships in Long Beach, California.

Out of curiosity, we inquired how, why, where and when StingMate® was invented. The story was strange, but absolutely true.

Julie and Webb Willmott were visiting a drug store while on vacation in Destin, Florida when a man rushed in because his wife had just been stung by a jellyfish.

The man was panicking with his wife in pain. He initially ran up to Webb and Julie with a tube of Preparation H and ask if that would work on a jellyfish sting. Webb, who has a masters in chemistry and pharmacology, quickly utilized his professional know-how and went over to the over-the-counter section. He grabbed four different products, mixed them together and...viola...StingMate® was born.

After the incident, Julie asked her husband if those ingredients could be combined into one. Webb consulted with his multiple patent-holding father and refined, remixed and reformulated the original product. Within a few weeks, the product was finished, but the team was not satisfied. They spent two more years before their commercial release and handed out over 10,000 free samples to beach and ocean rescue units, life guards, the diving community, surfers and swimmers all over the world for feedback.

After receiving overwhelming positive feedback on its effectiveness, StingMate® was launched and now the product is packaged in a convenient spray bottle that includes a neutralizing gel. The primary ingredients of acetic acid (vinegar) and menthol works by inactivating the stinging jellyfish cells. The menthol provides a cooling sensation and the spray formulation provides immediate relief for the affected area, small or large, since the patented gel does not run off the body as would plain vinegar. The gel suspends the stinging cells and allows remaining ones to be simply scraped off the skin with any straight edge card.

From a pharmacy in Florida to beaches around the world, the success story of StingMate® is wonderful to hear.

The Surfrider Foundation, Protecting the Oceans

17.Apr.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Products & Equipment   |  (0) comments

Jim Moriarty, Chief Executive Officer of the Surfrider Foundation explains the mission of the Surfrider Foundation here.

While organizations like the volunteer-driven Surfrider Foundation help protect and preserve our shorelines and beach access, the open water swimming community benefits through their much appreciated efforts.