Natalie Coughlin attacking the backstroke.

With her fifth appearance in the FINA World Championship, Natalie Coughlin returned home with a Gold, Silver and Bronze.  Although she wasn’t fully satisfied with her performance, it was a great marker to focus in on what she needs to work on during training over the next year before the 2012 Olympics.

Slater Trout had a busy summer, finishing second in both the Hennessey’s and Catalina races.  During the SUP Magazine awards, he was more than happy to be awarded as the third best male paddler.

A few months after being featured on the cover of Triathlete Magazine, Laura Bennett won the 2011 Buffalo ITU Pan American Cup, making this her third national title.  Greg Bennett finished third in the Life Time Minneapolis Triathlon on July 9th and 11th in the Los Angeles Triathlon on September 26th.

Craig Alexander won the Marine Corp World Championship in Las Vegas on September 11th.  In Kona, Alexander again didn’t disappoint, setting a new course record and becoming one of four men to win the race three times or more.  On top of all that, he became the first man to win both the Ironman and Ironman 70.3 world championship in the same year!

H2O Audio Ambassador athlete Laura Bennett is a mere week away from the Olympic trials!  She’s been racing strong and we’re sure she’ll do well, but more there’s always room for more motivation and well wishes.  That’s why we’ve teamed up with Words to Sweat By to ramp up for the Olympic Trials with some awesome giveaways!

Head to Words To Sweat by to share your favorite inspirational quote and find out all the other ways you can enter for the Gold, Silver or Bronze prize pack full of H2O Audio and Words to Sweat by goodies!

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!

Team H2O Audio Ambassadors Greg and Laura Bennett have officially kicked off their competition season and have returned to the states to resume training in Boulder, Colorado.  USA Triathlon recently caught up with Laura to catch her thoughts on the fist event of the season.

In an entirely different sort of competition, a couple of windsurfers are taking Amphibx Fit Waterproof Armbands to a whole new level.  After developing new technology that measures height and distance, Casey Hauser and Jake Miller were able to take real time measurements on the water using sensors waterproofed by Amphibx Fit Armbands.  Watch the video below to find out how it’s being used in the Ride The Sky contest.

Another team H2O Audio athlete, Bruckner Chase will soon embark soon an National Marine Santuary expedition to the waters off of American Samoa to bring attention to the habitats and ecosystems in that area.  During his journey he’ll complete a never before attempted 9 mile swim while also educating and connecting the local community to the local waterways, as well as teaching ocean swimming and rescue skills.  For more information on his journey, please visit  www.brucknerchase.com.