Australian Craig Alexander has been crowned Ironman World Champion for 2008, taking out the sport’s most prestigious event in Kona, Hawaii. The Orca-sponsored athlete was three minutes ahead of his nearest rival, in a time of 08:17:45.

Alexander was hotly tipped as one of the favourites this year following his second place in the 2007 event – which was the first time he had entered the race. Craig, known as Crowie, can now add the full Ironman world championship to the 70.3 title he won in 2006.
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Orca’s research and development team has designed a number of innovative new products that helped improve the performance of athletes at major sporting events over the last few weeks.

Orca is official apparel sponsor to Bike NZ and provides the race gear for the entire squad. Orca developed a new type of track skinsuit that uses Orca’s revolutionary new AeroSkn material - which has an incredibly low drag coefficient.

The track cyclists have enjoyed fantastic performances at the Laoshan Velodrome, assisted by the AeroSkn-based skinsuits, with a silver medal for Hayden Roulston in the individual pursuit and bronze for the team pursuit.
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As we countdown to the Olympics, Orca has asked the athletes it sponsors who have qualified for the Olympics to give us an insight into what life is like as they prepare for the sports event of a lifetime.

July 18, 2008
Kris Gemmell - New Zealand

40 days and counting…

In the weekend I raced in the third round of the French grand prix in Beauvias, which is just out of Paris.

There were 10 guys on the start line that were off to Beijing in 5 and half weeks, and some of which “I’ll” say are the hitters of our sport. My training has been going really well up here in Font Romeu so I was looking to hit out. Both myself and my coach knew this would be a good race to test me out. And the fact it was a really strong field was an even better gauge.
In the past my biggest struggle when racing directly from altitude was my running speed. So the real test for me was - could I follow anyone that went off the front of the race especially at the start of the run!
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Congratulations to the Orca-sponsored athletes who have already qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. With many of them racing in Orca gear, the brand’s presence will be strong at the world’s greatest sporting spectacle.

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Most people would consider going 100 metres underwater a challenge, even with scuba gear. But for New Zealander William Trubridge, that is how deep he went in April to set two new free diving world records.

The two records were set at Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas at the Vertical Blue 2008 Invitational Freediving Competition. The first record William set was 86 metres for the “constant weight (no fins) category, holding his breath for 3min 20sec as he descended and ascended unassisted by any weights, fins or a line. Three days later he broke the “free immersion” record, pulling himself down a line to 107 metres and then back up to the surface.

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The impact of Olympic qualification and then peaking for the games themselves is already having an impact on the ITU World Cup triathlon circuit in 2008. A handful of events have already been held, with the line ups varying greatly as athletes carefully plan their year.

Prior to the first ITU World Cup race in Mooloolaba, Australia a couple of Orca athletes put in excellent early season performances. Shane Reed took out the Oceania Champs and was announced as the third and final male in New Zealand’s Olympic triathlon team.

Meanwhile, across the Tasman Sea Courtney Atkinson, who was already in the provisional Australian Olympic team won both the Australian sprint and Olympic distance national championships.

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Courtney Atkinson has been crowned Australian Triathlon Champion for the third time, after securing his title in searing conditions on Perth’s waterfront. He then followed this up a few weeks later winning the Australian sprint distance triathlon champs.

Fellow Orca-sponsored athletes Debbie Tanner and Clark Ellice have also seen success, taking out the women’s and men’s titles at the New Zealand National Sprint Distance Triathlon Championships.

Tough conditions saw the elite competitors lining up in scorching temperatures that peaked at 35 degrees in Australia, which created extremely tough conditions for the entire field as they came out of the swim and hit the bike leg. The day belonged to Atkinson who referred to the conditions as “testing”, especially for his first hit out of the season.

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Orca would like to congratulate Kris Gemmell, Debbie Tanner and Sam Warriner on having their places confirmed for the New Zealand Olympic Team to Beijing 2008. All three triathletes met the criteria in finishing in the top six at the ITU World Cup race in Beijing in September, but only received the rubber stamp on December 12.

Kris and Debbie race in Orca wetsuits and apparel, and Sam races in Orca wetsuits. The three are joined by 2004 Olympic silver medallist Bevan Docherty in the team. Other top New Zealand triathletes will competing for the remaining two spots at the ITU World Cup race in Mooloolaba early in 2008.

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For endurance distance triathletes Kona is the holy grail. Each year the Ironman World Championships are held in this area of Hawaii, attracting the world’s best.

2007 turned out to be a fantastic year for Orca-sponsored athletes, particularly in the men’s event. Chris McCormack, who races in Orca wetsuits, was a popular winner, having come close on a number of occasions. Meanwhile, World Ironman 70.3 Champion Craig Alexander was touted as a dark horse for the race, and put in a stunning effort to come second.

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With the triathlon season in full swing there have been a host of major races over the last few months. Orca-sponsored athletes have performed brilliantly in the ITU, 70.3 and Ironman distances and a number of athletes have secured spots at the 2008 Olympics.

LONDON TRIATHLON

Tim Don overcame a strong field to win the men’s Olympic race at the London Triathlon in early August.
Don, who races in Orca wetsuits, seemingly cruised through the field during the swim and bike sections of the race, before overhauling compatriot Stuart Hayes on the second lap of the run to take the victory.
Orca was the official wetsuit and swim stage sponsor of the race, which attracts over ten thousand entrants.

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