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		<?xml version="1.0"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>Open Water - Tri247</title><link>http://www.tri247.com/index.html</link><description>Latest open water articles from Tri247</description><item><title><![CDATA[Official launch of Born 2 Tri]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3361.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Have you ever dabbled with the idea of duathlon or triathlon, or do you simply enjoy swimming, cycling or running? This Saturday, May 17th, the picturesque Gosfield Lake near Braintree will host an event giving you the opportunity to find out more about these sports and the different ways you can get involved.

The event marks the launch of a new lottery-funded multi-sports club in mid-Essex called Born2tri set up by a group of local triathletes who wanted to share their love of the three disciplines. There is no cost to attend the event and absolutely no obligation to join, it is simply a chance to demonstrate what is on offer in the county. The event runs between 10am and noon. Whether you are a novice or experienced, and whether you want to just take a look or &lsquo;get physical&rsquo; you are welcome to pitch up.Qualified coaches will be on hand and there will be a chance to try out an open water swim, some spinning bikes, kindly supplied by Complete Health &amp;amp; Fitness, or jog by the lake. For those who wish to try all three and experience the transition from one discipline to another will also have the chance through structured sessions from 10.15am.

There will also be sports massage and injury advice available from Jonathan McComish who currently works with Ipswich Town FC and the British Amateur Swimming Association.
The Cannondale bike van from Chelmer Cycles will be on site with a range of bikes and cycling advice and Lucozade will also be there providing sports nutrition advice and giving out promotional samples. There will also be a limited number of wet suits on site for people to try out in the water. A fee of &pound;4 will be charged for anyone wanting to undertake a lake swim. This is the same as the fee charged for open water training sessions held at the lake every Tuesday evening and Sunday morning throughout the summer. At any point in the lake you can touch the bottom with your foot and there will be swim coaches on hand. Shower and changing facilities are also available.

For more information about the club and other events go to www.born2tri.co.uk or call Mark Harman on 07710024214]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Looking for inspiration?]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3335.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[From time-to-time we all need a good kick up the rear, a bit of motivation or something to inspire us. You know the score; racing slower  than you expect, training becoming a drag and perhaps the urge to do anything  about it at rock bottom. Nothing is really wrong as such, but you just hit a &amp;lsquo;down&amp;rsquo; and need a chink of light to show you the way.

As athletes, the performances of others is often the source and as a sports-mad guy, I often get a real buzz that way. For example, I&amp;rsquo;ve never been in a rowing boat in my life, but I was shouting and screaming with millions of others when Steve Redgrave crossed the line (with a little help from Cracknell, Foster and Pinsent!), for Olympic gold number five. I never  realised how emotional it made me feel until several years later and it was replayed on the TV. Gary Herbert&amp;rsquo;s commentary &amp;ldquo;the Italian&amp;rsquo;s are coming!!&amp;rdquo;, as  it looked so close at the finish, set the hair on my neck on end. As they crossed the line I was in tears &amp;hellip; and this was years later and I knew the  result!!

Last Saturday evening I had another one of those &amp;ldquo;kick up  the arse&amp;rdquo; moments. I was doing some research (hopefully the boss is reading, and is impressed with my dedication&amp;hellip;) on the Open Water Swim World Champs held in Seville. The 10km event debuts as an Olympic sport this summer and there are plenty of triathlon connections. The report highlighted the success of two British athletes qualifying for Beijing (silver and eighth), and then almost casually mentioned that &amp;ldquo;South African amputee Natalie Du Toit also qualified for Beijing after finishing fourth&amp;rdquo;. HELLO!!

Remember her? Commonwealth Games 2002 in Manchester and she  made the final of the 800m &amp;hellip; after losing her leg in a motorcycle accident the year previously. And here we are again &amp;hellip; except this isn&amp;rsquo;t the Commonwealth  Games, it&amp;rsquo;s the World Championships. In an Olympic discipline, du Toit  finished, after just over two hours of swimming, less than one second from the  podium, and barely five seconds from gold. 

Impressed? You should be. Open water  swimming isn&amp;rsquo;t going to be an easy (in a medal sense) event. Both Grant Hackett  and David Davies, gold and bronze respectively in the 1500m in Athens, raced in  the men&amp;rsquo;s event, as all of the world&amp;rsquo;s top distance pool swimmers seek an  opportunity to medal. Oh, and the legend Hackett didn&amp;rsquo;t make Beijing&amp;hellip;

It&amp;rsquo;s not often I stop in my tracks, but reading that was incredible, and leaves Natalie with just one remaining ambition. Ironically for  triathlon readers, it&amp;rsquo;s to be able to run&amp;hellip;

I&amp;rsquo;ll leave you with a poem I found on Natalie&amp;rsquo;s website a coach had given her:
  
The tragedy of life  does not lie in not reaching your goals;
The tragedy of life lies in not having goals to reach for.
It is not a disgrace not to reach for the stars;
But it is a disgrace not to have stars to reach for.

Time for me to set a few goals of my own, I think &amp;hellip;
Livestrong,
John]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Tatton Park Triathlon chooses Aqua Sphere]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3354.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[My Triathlon, the tri event specialist, has chosen Aqua Sphere as its official swim equipment sponsor for the inaugural Tatton Park Triathlon on 8th June 2008. The event races comprise an standard distance, a sprint distance and a corporate team sprint event. Aqua Sphere is supplying prizes for the fastest male and females out of the water, donating a significant quantity of its award winning goggles and masks, and the team will be available at the event for product advice and fitting expertise.

Tatton Park Tri organiser, Steve Collins, says &ldquo;We are delighted to have the support of Aqua Sphere for this inaugural event and it&rsquo;s a huge boost in our bid to create a race series which really makes its mark on the UK tri programme. The Aqua Sphere brand is widely recognised and has huge integrity  amongst the tri community because of the quality and innovation of its wide-angle goggles and masks.  Thanks to the team for their support and I look forward to a long term successful relationship.&rdquo;    

Offering every product for the water, including a series of high performance tri wetsuits which has gained critical acclaim, Aqua Sphere is best known for its revolutionary wide angle goggles and masks which deliver an amazing 180 degree vision and a superb anti-leak fit. Used by some of the leading triathletes and elite swimmers in the world, the Kaiman goggle has recently been awarded the coveted &lsquo;Best Buy&rsquo; accolade by Holiday Which? magazine. Continually innovating, the brand recently launched a new Vista Cross-Swim Goggle&trade; &ndash; a brand new hybrid product which offers the same wide-angle 180-degree vision, comfort and fit synonymous with Aqua Sphere&rsquo;s revolutionary Seal and Seal XP products, but combines these features with a sleeker profile indicative of a competitive swimming goggle. With innovation at its heart, Aqua Sphere&rsquo;s UK year-on-year sales growth makes it the fastest growing brand in UK water.  

For event information click on www.tattontriathlon.co.uk or call 0161 905 1300.  For Aqua Sphere call 01254 278873 or click on www.aquasphereswim.com ]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Open water sessions for novices]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3333.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[TriCentral will be running an open water training session for novices at the Salford Water Sports Centre in Manchester this Thursday, May 22nd. This is a great way for those new to open water swimming to experience it in a structured environment with experienced coaches; Rob Harvey and Paul Hawkins. The session will cover: getting accustomed to open water, sighting, breathing, turning, open water starts, wetsuit transitions and more.

The session will run from 7.30 to 8.30pm and will cost &pound;15 per person. There are only 14 places available which will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Payment must be made in advance. Participants must register and book in at the WaterSports reception individually and meet at the TriCentral stand on the dockside no later than 7.20pm. If you have not registered with the WaterSports Centre for open water swimming please click here. For more information, and to book your place, email sales@tricentral.co.uk or call 0161 748 1907.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Nero 10k men line up in force]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3308.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[The  men&amp;rsquo;s 10k open water swimming event at the World Championships in Seville today, 4th May, saw Russia&amp;rsquo;s Vladimir Dyatchin take a narrow victory  over Britain&amp;rsquo;s  David Davies in a sprint finish after 1hour 53minutes of swimming. 
The  much anticipated showing of Olympic 1500m champion, Grant Hackett, turned into  disappointment as he faded out of contention and was later disqualified.  However, the fortunes of his great domestic rival, Ky Hurst, in the blueseventy  Nero 10k suit were much better. The surf lifesaver finished in joint 5th  place and will represent Australia  in Beijing.
Hurst was one of three  swimmers in the top ten who chose to wear the Nero 10k suit, and had to apply  to his national federation seven weeks ago to be allowed to wear it. Holland&amp;rsquo;s Maarten Van Der  Weijden in 4th place and the Italian, Cleri, in 6th also  wore the unbranded suit.
A  third of all competitors on the start line wore the Nero 10k suit, the only  open water specific suit on the market, making it the dominant brand from  practically nowhere.
Geoff Matthews, CEO Swimming,  commented: &amp;lsquo;We were absolutely the dominant brand today and helped three  swimmers make it to the Olympics. We are delighted that swimmers are choosing  to wear our suit, and that&amp;rsquo;s why we manufacture it unbranded to help athletes  fit in with their national federations.&amp;rsquo;
&amp;lsquo;We are an athlete first company and if athletes want to wear  our suits, we don&amp;rsquo;t feel the need to have our logos all over them. We&amp;rsquo;re  grateful that we&amp;rsquo;re the number one choice for athletes, we don&amp;rsquo;t pay athletes  to wear our suit, yet a third of swimmers chose our swim skin today. It&amp;rsquo;s the  only open water specific suit and the most comfortable on the market.&amp;rsquo;
The World Championships continues this week with the men&amp;rsquo;s and  women&amp;rsquo;s 5km and 25km events taking place on Wednesday and Friday this week. 
The  Nero 10k suit uses groundbreaking technology taken directly from triathlon and  the Hawaii Ironman. What&amp;rsquo;s your choice? For more information about blueseventy  see: www.blueseventy.com 
Results
  1 DYATCHIN Vladimir RUS 1982 1:53:21.0
  2 DAVIES David GBR 1985 1:53:21.3
  3 LURZ Thomas GER 1973 1:53:27.2
  4 VAN DER WEIJDEN Maarten NED 1981 1:53:36.3
  5 DRATTSEV Evgeny RUS 1983 1:53:37.6
  5 HURST  Ky AUS 1981 1:53:37.6 ]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[blueseventy suit leads the way at FINA world championships]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3300.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Representatives from blueseventy have been mobbed by swimmers at the FINA open water championships in a frenzy to lay their hands on the fastest suit made for open water swimming. Geoff Matthews, CEO Swimming, and Guy Crawford, Director of Sponsorship, were hoping for a sedate trip to Seville to witness the FINA open water championships, instead they were confronted with teams from Russia, Italy, France, Belarus, Ecuador, Venezuela, Mexico and Brazil along with individual swimmers from Australia, the UK and the USA.

Matthews states &quot;We have been met with suit requests for the new Nero 10k open water suit which is the swimming version of triathlon&#039;s groundbreaking pointzero3. The new suits saves minutes in the open water and the athletes looking for Olympic selection know there is no other suit out there&quot;.

Matthews added, &quot;Many athletes and teams have broken sponsorship arrangements with the world&#039;s biggest sporting and swimming brands in order to succeed with their dreams, most feel the fine their federations will place on them will be worth them swimming in the fastest suit available, no one wants to be at a disadvantage.&quot;

The Nero 10k suit has been designed from a construction and material methodology born from triathlon, and blueseventy feel this contribution to swimming is as big as the triathlon handlebar is to cycling. For more information see blueseventy&#039;s website: www.blueseventy.com]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Heron Lake feature days]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3291.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Martyn Edwards at SBR has confirmed some extra &#039;feature days&#039; at Heron Lake where suppliers will be in attendance to promote their products:

Zym Hydration on Saturday 3rd May
Torq Nutrition on Saturday 10th May
Red Bull on Saturday 17th May
BodyGlide on 24th May
Goodness Shakes on 31st May

]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ready, set, swim!]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3247.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Even with all the news about races being afected, this looks like being the weekend that the ice finally gets broken on the main open water swimming locations around the country - last weekend&#039;s false start is behind us and pretty much everyone is set to catch up with the hardy folk who have been in the Top Barn/Runaround Sports lake since Easter. For full details on all the venues see our facilities round-up feature.

Expected to open this weekend on the Saturday are Heron Lake and Liquid Leisure, with Gosfield Lake following on Sunday. Reported temperatures are hovering around 12&amp;deg;C (which is warmer than the 9 - 10&amp;deg;C reported at the Cotswold Water Park!) but that&#039;s all far too scientific -- it&#039;s how long the ice cream headache takes to hit home is the real measure! SBR, who co-ordinate the Heron Lake facility with Rick Kiddle Coaching, are looking for helpers to work at the lake through the Summer and are offering whoever works at the lake complimentary swimming, when they are not working, so this could save someone a lot of money over the summer. If anyone is interested, email chris.kilminster@sbrsports.com

For those brave enough to go in and swim do please take note of the swim distance guidelines published by the British Triathlon Federation in their rule book. They recommend that no open water swimming is done if the temperature is below 11&amp;deg;C and that the following are the maximum distances at low temperatures:

11&amp;deg;C not more than 500m
12&amp;deg;C not more than 1000m
13&amp;deg;C not more than 2000m
]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Gosfield Lake update]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3230.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[The open water swim sessions start again at Gosfield Lake, near Braintree in Essex this Sunday, April 27th. The sessions will start from 0630 to 0845 and for more information on both the sessions and the lake temperature see the Born2Tri website: www.born2tri.co.uk. It is expected that the lake temperature will be OK for the swim to go ahead.
]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Orca S2 wetsuit test]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3157.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[In 2007, Orca developed a special cut-price wetsuit as part of their sponsorship of the London Triathlon. Called the S1, it was a half-way house between a watersports wetsuit and a triathlon one and offered novice triathletes a perfectly functional wetsuit for not very much money. They also used it as the basis of London Triathlon&#039;s wetsuit hire fleet.

It&#039;s now 2008 and Orca&#039;s deal with London is over - Speedo are the new wetsuit sponsor. However, that doesn&#039;t mean the S1 is dead. Through an exclusive deal with Wiggle, Orca have developed the S2 which is being sold at the astounding price of just &pound;99.99 and should be available to rent later this summer. Even more outstanding is that the suit has been improved with new DeltaStretch shoulder panels and a Slipstream zip at the same time as the price has been reduced.

Let&#039;s be clear about one thing before we start: we are reviewing a &pound;100 wetsuit here and not a &pound;300+, top-of-the-line one. That means that there&#039;s a whole different set of expectations and a whole different set of needs. To start with, we suspect that most of the market for this suit will be from first-time triathletes who would rather own their own suit than either hire one or pick one up  second-hand or ex-hire. We are also, if truth be told, probably dealing with athletes who won&#039;t be swimming at the front of the field. While this means that they don&#039;t need the latest in time-shaving trickery it does mean that they need good buoyancy, good thermal insulation (they might be in there a long time) and decent flexibility so the suit doesn&#039;t tire them too much.

Because we needed to get an early review into the system we decided that testing in the lake was not going to be a realistic option - you can only ask so much of your testers! - so we decamped to Hampton Pool early one morning to try them out. This year we have two testers who will be going to put all out trial suits through their paces. Both are very competent age group athletes and swimming is their primary discipline so they know what to expect from a bit of rubber.

The suits were ordered from Wiggle on the basis of the size charts and both fitted pretty well. Certainly there were no major gaps or wrinkles and both collars and cuffs looked to be pretty well sealed. Once in the water it was clear that both suits were going to provide plenty of flotation, but with a 5mm chest panel we would have been surprised if they hadn&#039;t! That said, the back of the suit is only 3mm and then there&#039;s the 2mm underarm and shoulder panels which are in a double-faced material which gives lots of stretch but without the cost of a top neoprene.

In terms of construction and panel layout it would be hard to fault this in a suit costing twice as much - the savings have come in the materials. The S2 uses what is, in today&#039;s market, a lower grade of neoprene with a similar saving in the liner and the coating. To put this in perspective, wind the clock back five years and you would have seen this quality of rubber in a mid-price suit!

There are some nice little touches; all the seams are blind sewn and glued with the stress points getting a bit of tape re-inforcement. The arm and leg cuffs are generously taped which means that you could cut them back if needed - although we felt that the legs were actually cut quite short and, with the inserted stretch panel, that made them plenty easy enough to get off.

To give an idea on the suit&#039;s performance we had the testers swim both steady-state and at race pace. The idea here is to see if the suit starts to induce and fatique or starts to let significant amounts of water in through the neck, cuffs or zip. Here are their reports:

The tester&#039;s views
Alan: Putting any wetsuit on isn&#039;t ever going to feel like getting into your favourite jeans but the Orca S2 felt reasonably flexible to put on and comfortable to wear, although raising my arms above my head did show up some restriction on the chest. It&#039;s a big improvement on my first Orca Speedsuit, purchased around four years ago for nearly twice the price, which left me with aching shoulders whilst on the bike. The sizing taken from the Wiggle site was right for me, although I do wear an Orca Apex 2 in the same size. Personally, I would want to try before I paid my money as it&#039;s a bit like buying pair of shoes.

In the water the suit offered sufficient buoyancy, important for body position and the confidence of a swimmer experiencing the washing machine effect at the start of a first triathlon race swim.

On the move the suit felt flexible enough to stretch the front of the stroke for the time required to complete a sprint race swim or longer distances at a more leisurely pace. It was only when stepping up the pace that I noticed it was cold under the arm pits and around the shoulders (possibly as result of the thinner neoprene) and water moving in the wetsuit. Getting out of the suit was not a problem,  a big consideration when you race for the first time feeling the whole world is watching you trying to escape from your wetsuit. For less than &pound;100 the Orca S2 meets the needs of a first season or someone not looking to spend big money in case they choose not to join the world of triathlon.

Jo: The S2 was very easy to get on. It was slightly baggier around the hips than I would have liked but elsewhere it was a good fit. The neckline was comfortable, essential for longer swims where you might start to chafe. The arms were longer than I like but were taped so they could easily be cut down and legs were a perfect length, coming above the ankle. The suit also came off quickly and easily.

At an easy pace the suit was fine but I found once I picked up the pace a significant amount of water entered the suit up the sleeves and pooled inside the suit in the slightly too roomy hip area. Overall the buoyancy was excellent and in terms of mobility, for a suit of this price the ease of movement around the shoulders wasn&#039;t too bad at all. I&#039;ve only ever had relatively cheap wetsuits and this compared favorably with the 2XU suit I currently use.
 
Possibly the only question I&#039;d have is regarding the suit&#039;s insulation. The test was done in a heated outdoor pool and I would like to know whether the shoulder panels let in the cold. [Ed: you&#039;ll know soon enough when you get in the lake in two weeks!!] My overall verdict is that it is definitely fit for purpose as an entry-level suit. The S2 would certainly float weaker swimmers very nicely and doesn&#039;t overly restrict arm movement.



Tri247 says: the old adage is that you get what you pay for and, given that you&#039;ve only paid &pound;99.99, we reckon you&#039;ve probably got a bit more than that as well. With all the major suit vendors looking to get into the bottom half of the &pound;100 to &pound;200 segment with an entry-level suit in an attempt to satisfy the first time market it&#039;s interesting to see how they differentiate their offerings from the S2. The reality is that there isn&#039;t much difference at all - based on last year&#039;s tests where all the suits swam to with a very small degree of difference we suspect the same will be true at the bottom end of the market. How much, for a novice, is that notional ten seconds worth? &pound;30? &pound;40? &pound;50?

If you are looking for a cheap, first-time suit and you don&#039;t want to pick up a second-hand one or hire for the year then S2 is made for you. As to whether it&#039;s the right suit for you in terms of fit may be a different matter - fit is just as important here as it is in a &pound;350 suit. Buying over the internet may be the only element of risk here if the size is wrong - but Wiggle&#039;s policy on changing suits for a different size is the same as anybody else; just keep it in mint condition and mind those fingernails.
]]></description></item></channel></rss>