Dana Vollmer, Rebecca Soni, Jessica Hardy, and Natalie Coughlin, from left, pose after winning the women's 4x100-meter medley relay final at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships

It was another HUGE weekend for H2O Audio swimmers!

The Pan Pacific Championships brought the best swimmers from Australia, Japan, Canada, the US and more to Irvine, California to compete.  Both Natalie Coughlin and Michael Phelps turned in amazing swims with Natalie taking first in the 100 back and 100 free, while sharing first place finishes with fellow Team USA swimmers in the 100 free relay and 100 medley relay.  Michael Phelps took his usual first place spot in the 100 and 200 fly, and also shared victory with his Team USA counterparts in the 100 and 200 free relays and the 100 medley relay.  So, a very successful event for Team H2O Audio swimmers!  You can find full results and coverage of the meet here.

Also this past weekend, Team H2O Audio triathletes Greg and Laura Bennett continue their month of competing in Europe with the Lausanne ITU Elite Sprint Triathlon World Championships. The Bennetts were not expecting this to be one of their bigger races this season and Greg was happy with his 25th place finish.  While Laura woke up on competition day not feeling well and much to her disappointment, had to skip the race.

Slater Trout, paddling his way towards a 2nd place finish at the SEA NY event.

It’s another big week for the swimming world!  The Pan Pacific Swim meet starts tomorrow and runs through the weekend.  Both Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin are representing the US and are using this meet and an important step in training for the 2012 Olympics.  Portions of the meet will be televised on Universal Sports if you want to cheer on Natalie and Michael from your living room.

H2O Audio Triathletes, Greg and Laura Bennett kicked off a month of racing in Europe with the ITU Kitzbuehel race this past weekend.  Laura turned in a very strong performance finishing 8th while Greg finished 25th, not bad for his first race post illness.  We’re always so proud of our favorite triathlete couple!

And finally, H2O Audio paddler Slater Trout finished the 28 mile paddle around Manhattan last weekend in 2nd place.  High winds, crazy tides and boat traffic were just a few obstacles in the S.E.A Paddle NYC fund raising race for Autism.  Always the competitor, Slater blames his second place finish on a “tactical error”.  You can read more about the race in his blog.  Over-all more than $260,000 was raised for Autism through this event.

Natalie Coughlin attacking the backstroke.

There’s been so much coverage of the US Nationals swim meet this past week, that it’s hard to pull it all together, but one thing is for certain, both H2O Audio Ambassador Swimmers Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin turned in great performances.  Both swimmers were named to the team that will represent the US at the Pan Pac Swim Meet at the end of the month.

Natalie finished first in the 100 back and was overall very happy with how the meet went.  This was the most important meet she’s competed in since Beijing and she was glad to find out her training has put her right on track for the Olympics in London, 2012.

Michael, while finishing first in the 100 free and 100 and 200 fly, wasn’t as happy with his performances.  He’s qualified for the Pan Pac team, but admits that he’s not racing the way he’d hoped at this point in his training.  However, he’s always said that he uses, what he considers poor performance, to motivate his training.

All in all, a successful meet for Team H2O Audio, and we loved seeing so much coverage of the swimming world!

Michael Phelps on his way to winning in the 200 fly

This week is big in watersports with both the US Nationals of Swimming and the US Open of Surfing taking place at the same time, and both not from us here in San Diego.

The Team H2O Audio Ambassador Swimmers Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin have both brought home first place finishes at the US Nationals, Natalie in the 100 back and Michael in the 200 fly and 200 free.  Looks like both of our Olympians are right on track to turn in top performances at the London Olympic games in 2012!

The US Open of Surfing continues in Huntington Beach with the top surfing pros battling it out.  You can catch live streaming of the heats on the US Open of Surfing website and daily photo and video recaps from Transworld Surf.

Natalie Coughlin, on her way to becoming the most decorated American female athlete in Olympic History

This week is big in the swimming world, the US Nationals of Swimming is on right now with both Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin competing.  Not only does this meet determine who will represent the US in the Pan Pacific meet in late August and at Worlds next July, it’s also the midway point between Olympics.  With both Natalie and Michael aiming towards 2012, how they perform in this meet will effect their training for the next two years.  We already know the amazing record Michael is coming into the games with, but Natalie also is in a position to make history.  She only needs to win two medals in London to become the most decorated American female athlete in Olympic history, and it all starts with Nationals this week.

Looking back to last week, Dave Kalama posted his narrative of winning the stand up paddle division of Molokai to Oahu race.  He mentions, “every year, I say to myself, I’m never doing that race again”.  Find out what makes the M2O race such a challenge.

And lastly Slater Trout posted an update about his nearly endless summer travels.  You can check out the latest pictures and competition updates at his blog.