Team H2O Audio Ambassador Laura Bennett

This past weekend kicked off the competition season for H2O Audio Ambassador swimmers and triathletes.

Both Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin were in the competition pool at the Michigan Grand Prix of Swimming in Ann Arbor Michigan.  The meet was a tough one for Phelps as he took fourth in his signature event, the 200 butterfly.  A mere 40 minutes later, he was able to recoup and channel his disapointment in the fly into a winning performance in the 100 backstroke.  Fellow H2O Audio Ambassador Natalie Coughlin also had a good night with the 100 back as she took first and set an all time pool record for the event.

H2O Audio Ambassador triathlete, Laura Bennett, is currently ranked 6th in the 2011 ITU WCS rankings after her strong finish in the International Triathlon Union World Championship series opener over the weekend.

Great way to kick off the season everyone!

Phelps, post race at the Indy Grand Prix

H2O Audio ambassador Michael Phelps had a good showing at the Grand Prix of Swimming event in Indianapolis yesterday.  This was his first meet after altitude training, and it must have paid off as Michael took the gold in both the 200 meter freestyle and the 100 meter butterfly.

After the race, one lucky fan got more than an autograph, as Michael tossed one of his medals into the stands to a young boy who’d been cheering him on the entire race.

“I threw it up, and the mom made sure she got ahold of the medal for the little boy,” Phelps said, smiling at recounting the incident. “It’s always good to have little guys out there watching and cheering us on. Those are going to be the guys taking over our place in a couple of years.”

We’re happy to see Michael doing so well on his road to the London Olympics in 2012, and we’ll be sure to keep you posted every step of the way.

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.

Natalie Coughlin is swimming in there! Photo of the outside of the Pool in Dubai taken by Natalie herself.

Both H2O Audio Ambassador Swimmers are tearing up the competition in the pool lately, while our youngest team member was featured in Sport Illustrated!

Michael Phelps competed close to home in the North Baltimore Christmas Invitational over the weekend.  He took first in the 50 free, a race he doesn’t usually compete in, narrowly missing his personal best time.  Then later, blew the competition out the water in the 100 backstroke.

Natalie Coughlin is currently racing in the Short Course World Championships in Dubai.  Due to her strength in turns and underwater swimming, Natalie usually excels in the short course format (racing in 25 yard increments instead of the 50 meters found in the Olympics) so we’ll be sure to keep you posted on how she does.

And lastly for today, our 15 year old Stand Up Paddle phenom, Slater Trout was recently featured in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” section that highlights up-and-coming young athletes.  We’re excited not only because it’s huge for Slater, but also for the sport of Stand Up Paddle itself!

Team H2O Audio Swimmers are back in action!

Natalie Coughlin is preparing to travel to Dubai at the end of the week for the Short Course World Championships.  A meet with some of the worlds best has a bit of a heavy feel this year, as the United Arab Emirates was where distance swimmer Fran Crippen passed away during an open water swim less than two months ago.  Natalie didn’t have any hesitation competing in this event thought, she was quoted as saying, “It was [Fran's] dream to be an Olympian, so I think the best way to pay homage to him is to do the sport we love and compete.”

Michael Phelps will also be in the competition pool soon.  He’ll be staying a bit closer to home, competing in the North Baltimore Athletic Club Christmas Meet.  Michael is looking forward to this meet as he always loves to perform in front his home town fans.

As for the rest of the team, our favorite triathlete couple, Greg and Laura Bennett is training hard in Noosa Australia, and Paddler Slater Trout is toting his SUP boards around Maui in his new truck.  So that’s the update for this week!