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!

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

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!

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.

A few days ago we were lucky enough to spend a day with Natalie Coughlin at the 24 Hour Fitness in Pleasanton, California just outside of San Francisco.  We couldn’t help but share a few of the photos….

Natalie makes this pose look easy!

Natalie with the Surge 2G Headphones

That's what great form looks like!