Laura and Greg Bennett, our favorite triathlete couple!

Back from a nasty respiratory illness, Craig Alexander overcame a 9 minute gap between him and race leader Maik Twelsiek during the triathlon’s 26.2 mile marathon route to become the Ford Ironman Coeur d’Alene champion. What a comeback! Craig finished the race with a time of 8 hours, 19 minutes, and 48 seconds setting a new course record. Well done Crowie!

Laura Bennett remains in 4^th place overall in the ITU World Championship Series rankings. Her 6^th place finish at the ITU Kitzuhel Triathlon was her 7^th consecutive top 10 finish during the World Championship Series. Her Husband and fellow H2O Audio ambassador, Greg Bennett placed 3^rd in last weekend’s Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon.

Greg and Laura are also featured in this summer’s edition of USA Triathlon Magazine talking about their path towards the 2012 Olympics and gracing the cover we might add!

Also to note, Natalie Coughlin made her 16^th appearance in the past 17 years at the annual Santa Clara International Grand Prix swim meet. She wrote about the meet and what it means to her on her USA swimming blog.

Team H2O Audio Ambassador Laura Bennett Dives into the Swim

Congratulations to H2O Audio team member Laura Bennett who finished 8^th overall in last weekend’s leg of the ITU World Championship series held in Madrid. Laura finished the race with a time of 2:05:33, less than 2 minutes behind the race leader. Her swim time of 19:16 tied for first among her competitors. She currently ranks 4^th place overall in the series. Way to go!

Greg Bennett, who competed in the male’s ITU World Championship race, finished 2^nd among US males with a race time of 1:54:38.

Also competing last weekend was Slater Trout at the Vail Teva Games, finishing 6^th in the stand-up paddle surf sprint race. Slater came in 4^th place in last month’s Battle of the Paddle Hawaii finishing the 5 mile course in 1:24:08.

Keep it up Team H2O Audio!

Our own Slater Trout charging at Sunset Beach during the Stand Up World Tour

We had to post about Greg and Laura Bennett who continue to rack up accolades without even competing! In the midst of their training in Australia, USA Triathlon named Laura Bennett ITU Olympic Triathlete of year for 2010, while Triathlete magazine named Greg Bennett one of the 15 greatest male triathletes of all time!  We’re so proud!  Greg and Laura, you both deserve it!

In the SUP world, Slater Trout made a solid showing at the first stop of the Stand Up World Tour at Sunset Beach.  Although he wasn’t one of the top finishers, there’s incredible pictures of him tackling huge surf….the 2011 season is just ramping up, so we can’t wait to see what Slater has in store for the rest of the year!

And of course, we can’t leave our swimmers out of the update, Michael Phelps has changed locations for a bit to get in some altitude training, while Natalie Coughlin continues on her path to 2012 in California.

Heading into the holidays, things are understandably quiet with Team H2O Audio.

Michael Phelps was scheduled to compete this past weekend in the Minnesota Grand Prix, but scratched siting no specific reason.

Natalie Coughlin is back from Italy and back to her training regiment.

Greg and Laura Bennett are chasing an endless summer and head back to Noosa, Australia in a few days.

And youngest team member Slater Trout continues to go to school, work on his driving skills and of course, paddle, paddle, paddle!

So now you’re up-to-date!  Keep checking back every Tuesday for the latest news from H2O Audio Ambassador athletes.

The Natalie-Coughlin-Eye-View of the competition pool in Bolzano, Italy.

It’s Tuesday, so it’s time to check in on what Team H2O Audio is up to:

Michael Phelps is gearing up to jump back into the competition pool this weekend at the kick-off event to the USA Swimming Grand Prix Meet Series in Minneapolis.  This is the first meet in a series of seven that runs into June, 2011.

Natalie Coughlin has been on the road and in the pool abroad.  Currently she is finishing up an International meet in Bolzano, Italy.  In between spending time with the Speedo Italy team, she posted good times in the 100 free, 100 IM and 100 fly.

Greg and Laura Bennett are getting back into training after a short break and Greg will soon be an official US citizen!  Today he tweeted that this afternoon will be his official swearing in ceremony.  Watch out US men, Greg Bennett is going for the 2012 Olympic USA triathlon team!

And last but certainly not least, Slater Trout and his family are settling back into home on Maui, Hawaii.  Nearly 16 years old, Slater recently used some of his prize winnings to buy himself a truck and also posted about helping to raise money for his old elementary school.