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!

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!

Slater Trout took first place in the 200 meter, 2000 meter and SUP Team Relay Races at the Silver Blade Regatta.

Well, it’s possible!  Surfing and beach related sports have often been positioned as possible Olympic sports, but the restrictions of the environment needed to participate are usually seen as a negative for the International Olympic Committee.  But as SUP becomes more and more popular on the flat water of lakes and rivers, it becomes more and more viable as a future Olympic sport hopeful.

Our own Slater Trout is amongst those who hope that SUP will soon be included in the Olympics and last weekend did his part to move the sport in that direction.  On April 23, 2011,  Stand Up Paddling made history. For the first time it was introduced at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California. The event was judged and timed by Olympic level officials that will more than likely be judging in London, 2012.

Chris Barlow, Founder of the San Diego Canoe and Kayak Team had these words about this past weekends event and the evolution of SUP.

“The paddle sport of Stand Up Paddle boarding is exploding so fast and is an excellent opportunity to get kids and adults alike out on the water with a paddle in their hands. Paddle Sports in the form of Canoe Kayak has been an Olympic Sport since 1936. With the USA National Team Trials being held in Chula Vista at The Olympic Training Center and with the San Diego Canoe Kayak Team hosting these Trials we felt it was a golden opportunity to invite SUP racers to compete at the same venue as next years USA Olympic Athletes as they take their first step towards making it to the 2012 London Olympics. So we resurrected the Silver Blade Regatta, which had not been run since 2002 and started to invite the SUP community and from this the excitement started to build. Who knows, maybe this will be the first small step towards making SUP an Olympic Sport in the future. With support from USA Canoe Kayak (the National Governing Body for Olympic Paddle sports), The USA Olympic Training Center and San Diego Canoe Kayak Team all on board and excited about adding in the Silver Blade Regatta for this purpose the Regatta was bound to be a success.”

Chris also had this to say about Slater’s strong performance:

Slater sprinting to a first place finish.

“The Silver Blade Regatta and National Team Trials this past weekend at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA was all about giving Stand Up Racers a chance to rub shoulders with next year’s USA Canoe Kayak Olympians as they take their first step towards the 2012 London Olympics. However, 16 year old Slater Trout showed with his overall win in the Stand UP Paddle board races that he is definitely an Olympic Caliber athlete. Matched against a tough field of older SUP racers Slater’s board literally had spray coming off the nose as he sprinted down the course in the 200m. As the USA Junior National Team Coach for this years Junior World Championships in Germany I know that Slater’s ability would stand him in good stead should he ever try out in the Canoe or Kayak. I hope to see this young man achieving great things in paddle sports and adding to his already impressive resume. Who knows maybe Slater Trout will be the USA’s first SUP Olympian!!!”

In response, Slater has this to say about the event:

“This race was monumental for the Stand Up Paddling community and it was a great step forward for me personally. I have always dreamed of becoming an Olympic level athlete and representing my country. It was an honor to be at the same venue with all the other paddle sports.”

We’re excited to be involved with such a promising new sport and the fantastic athletes who are paving the way.

Slater Trout and the brand new Amphibx Fit Armband

Things are pretty quiet with Team H2O Audio starting off the new year, everyone is training hard trying to make 2011 even better than 2010.

The youngest of our ambassadors, Stand Up Paddler Slater Trout, had some extra time to do a quick interview with Standup Paddler Magazine about his plans for this year and beyond.

Natalie Coughlin post swim in Dubai

We’re so proud of Natalie’s performance at the Short Course World Championships of Swimming in Dubai!  She set two new American records (and also personal best times) in the 100 back and 100 free, and also took home a silver in the 400 free relay.  Job well done!

Also worth noting is Ryan Lochte’s new world record in the 400 IM.  This is the first world record set in 2010 since FINA banned the highly technical full body suits like the Speedo LZR.

And, coming off his feature in Sports Illustrated, our own Slater Trout was just named one of “The 5 Most Influential Stand Up Paddlers of 2010” by Chris Bishow, not a bad way to close out 2010.