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.

Training to swim, bike and run around the world

A few weeks ago we posted a story about a kayaker who is in the midst of circumnavigating the globe, solely by human power.  In another test of extreme endurance, a British teacher named Dan Martin will be embarking on a global triathlon in May.  He aims to swim the Atlantic Ocean, cycle across Europe and run through Canada all in the span of 18 months.

Unrelated, but also incredible, is this video of a surfer who almost collides with a photographers helicopter while surfing huge waves in Hawaii.