The women will be representing at the Molokai to Oahu Paddle Race

The swimmers and surfers have been dominating the Friday News for a while now, so this week, we’re starting off with Kiteboarding.

On the heels of the final day of the PKRA Kiteboarding World Cup in Cabarete, The KB4 Girls World Tour gathered the top female kiteboarders from the West Coast on Sherman Island for a day of impressive competition.  Gorgeous sunny weather and consistent wind made for great competition conditions.

In the Stand Up Paddle World, the Molokai to Oahu paddle race has closed registration.  The event is a month away, but already the contest is full.  Among the female competitors who will take on the grueling channel crossing is Jenny Kalmbach who recently crossed all of the channels of the Hawaiian islands with the help of her H2O Audio gear.  With so many H2O Audio athletes including Slater Trout, and past champion Mikey Cote competing in the M2O race, we’ll be sure to keep you up to date at the race approaches.

Natalie Coughlin did what she set out to do in Santa Clara.

Natalie Coughlin did what she came to do this past weekend at the Santa Clara Grand Prix of swimming.  Although her time for the 100 freestyle put her last in the field of 189 swimmers, her 50 split of 25.63 was what she was after.  That time will qualify her to compete in the upcoming U.S. National Championships.  Read more on the Santa Clara Grand Prix on Swimnetwork.com

H2O Audio Triathletes, Greg and Laura Bennett, were scheduled to compete this weekend in Philadelphia in the first of the Lifetime Fitness Series events, but have had to withdraw due to illness.  Just a pestering sinus infection, the Bennetts are planning on resting up and being back in top form to continue with their competition schedule.  Also, Ironman Craig Alexander is in the midst of competition season, check out a recent interview about his career future Ironman plans.

Waterman Laird Hamilton has always been vocal about ocean conservation and recently took a trip to the Gulf Coast to further aid efforts related to the BP Oil Spill and posted photos and videos on his blog.

Team H2O Audio was on the competition circuit this weekend!

Ironman Craig Alexander repeated as the Boise 70.3 champ in a close victory just 10 seconds in front of second place finisher Ben Hoffman.  And while both Greg and Laura Bennett were scheduled to race at the Hy-vee triathlon in Iowa, Greg had to withdraw due to illness.  But, Laura still raced strong finishing 6th amongst the tough female competitors.

For the swimmers, while Natalie Coughlin was making the trip home from the Mare Nostrum swim series in Europe, Michael Phelps was racing close to home in the North Baltimore Long Course Championships.  Just coming off three weeks of training at altitude in Colorado, Phelps took 1st in both the 100 breast and 100 fly.

An important race in the Stand Up Paddle world, the Gerry Lopez Battle of the Paddle hosted over 600 of the worlds top competitors in Honolulu over the weekend.  Our own Slater Trout put up a solid fight to finish 7th.  He details the play-by-play of the big race in his latest blog posting.

This is just the start of the competition season for team H2O Audio, keep checking back every Tuesday for the latest standings.

This is not the first time Laura Bennett will be tackling the Hy-Vee Triathlon.

Team H2O Audio will be competing this weekend, with triathlon power couple, Greg and Laura Bennett going after the Hy-Vee Elite Cup in Iowa and Slater Trout taking on the Battle of the Paddle in Hawaii.  Of course, we’ll keep you up to date with how they do and wish them safe travels and great performances!

In general watersports news, mens and womens surfing are on tour with Stephanie Gilmore dominating the womens ASP world tour.  While the men gear up for the US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach, July 31st through August 8th.  And the Mare Nostrum swim series continues in Europe with the final match up this weekend.

Win these headphones today!

Team H2O Audio Triathlete Craig Alexander cruised to victory at the Rev3 Triathlon in Quassy this weekend.  Known as a hilly and tough course, Crowie said he was up for the challenge, and he delivered amongst a field of tough competitors.  Also, recently Crowie talked to TriZone about training, diet and his focus for this racing season.

Natalie Coughlin has been twittering updates from her travels to the Mare Nostrum event in Monte Carlo this week.  The series moves to Barcelona starting tomorrow and Swimming World.com has all the coverage.

Today on Michael Phelps Facebook page, suggest new songs to keep him motivated at training camp, and have a change at a free pair of Surge Waterproof Sport Headphones!