Oh Youtube….a vast time sucker full of amazing videos, including our favorite catatory, swimming and surfing animals. From surfing ducks and sheep to scuba cats I could fill this page with odd aquatic videos, but instead, I’ll simply post our tribute to the slow and steady. Not every swimmer needs to be fast….
Next, are photos and videos, that you can’t help but check out and chuckle a bit…what would ever possess someone to do this? Who knows, but we’re glad they did.
With spring right around the corner, the Team H2O Audio SUPers have been grabbing the tail end of winter swells and enjoying the sunshine….
Laird Hamilton and friends always make Stand Up Paddling look so effortless, easily throwing in 360′s, but this point of view video not only shows their cool tricks, but also how fast the waves really move.
Just in case you haven’t heard yet, Dave Kalama is the newest H2O Audio Ambassador to join the world of blogging! Almost every you can check out a new entry into his Waterman’s Journal about his adventures in stand up paddling, surfing, ocean voyaging and life. Also, Dave will be making his way to Florida in May to host a Race Clinic before the 2010 Gulf Coast SUP Championship.
H2O Audio paddler Chuck Patterson just can’t seem to stay at home. He’s posted another great blog entry about his latest adventure to the Kui Kaika big wave SUP contest in Oahu complete with gorgeous pictures that are sure to give you a mini-vacation right from your desk.
Moving away from the salt water and back to the chlorine, H2O Audio Ambassador Natalie Coughlin spoke with Swimming World TV last week about her performance in her first swim meet since Beijing and her what’s on her path to the 2012 Olympics.
Surfers on TV, swimmers back in the pool and kiteboarder magazine spreads, Team H2O Audio has been busy, so lets get to it!
H2O Audio Ambassadors Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama were recently featured on ABC’s Nightline, highlighting what they do best, surfing big El Nino swell. Also, the big wave surfing team recently announced their involvement in the Third Annual Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Pipeline to a Cure event. Hamilton and Kalama have been involved with this event since its inception and serve as honorary co-chairmen dedicated to spreading awareness of the benefits of surfing and saline for Cystic Fibrosis suffers. This years event will be held on July 31st in Huntington Beach, California.
H2O Audio Swimmers Natalie Coughlin and Michael Phelps were both back in the competition pool this past weekend. In Natalie’s first race since the Beijing Olympics, she finished 1st in the 100 meter back at the Austin Grand Prix of Swimming. A few states away, Michael set a personal best time in the 200 yard IM at the Maryland State Swimming Championships. Both swimmers named these meets as an integral part of their training for the 2012 summer Olympics.
And finally, congratulations to Team H2O Audio kiteboarder Grant Hasselbach who grabbed a full page “Close Up” feature in The Kiteboarder Magazine. Look for his article in newsstands now.
Today’s grab bag is all about interesting things on water.
First up, due to an unusually high tide, a rare swell swept through the Severn river in the UK, drawing hundreds of surfers to try and see who could ride the wave the longest.
Next, adventure Kayak magazine published “a completely arbitrary, shamelessly biased and utterly made-up list of the 10 best places to live for sea kayaking“. Even though it might not be a comprehensive list, at least it’s got a few suggestions on where to go for good kayaking.
And one last thing to get you through to Friday, a piece of news from Orange County, California. The Dana Point Harbor has taken action to keep Stand Up Paddlers safe by producing a sticker showing the best routes for boats and human powered vessels to navigate the waterway safely. With the growing popularity of SUP, I’m sure this will be something we’re seeing more often in waterways around the world.
Many extreme athletes use “foam pits” to nail difficult tricks while limiting the possibility of injury. Skateboarders, BMX bikers, even ski jumpers and most famously snowboarders like Shaun White have been vocal about using foam landing areas to help nail high flying tricks. Now surfers are getting in on the action. While surfers have the advantage of a forgiving landing, what they lack is the consistent conditions to work on a trick to perfection. That’s why this team of surfers grabbed skateboards to launch themselves into a foam pit as training for aerial surfing….
Speaking of surfing…New York musicians MGMT stay their newest album is heavily influenced by surfing. Look for their album, Congratulations, to be released mid-April and have some new surf inspired music in your Amphibx Armband during your spring surf sessions.