Prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, blueseventy and its innovative swimwear were all the rage.

But the changes in FINA rules and in the marketplace, we had not heard much of blue seventy lately.

Until recently.

Kristin Jones and Laura Val are among blueseventy’s ambassadors.

Jones is an elite open water swimmer in one of the most unlikeliest of locations: Alaska. After a successful high school and collegiate career as a pool swimmer, she easily made the transition to open water swimming and has finished first in her first 4 swims in Key West, Florida and Lake Memphremagog, Vermont as well as in her home state in the Pennock Island Swim in Ketchikan and the Change your Latitude 5 km swim in Sitka. She competes while raising money for a rare genetic disease called Friedreick’s Ataxia that affects two of her brothers.

“Swimming in two races, on two consecutive days, in two different towns in Alaska was definitely challenging, but also incredibly rewarding,” recalls Jones, the overall winner in both events. “Both races [the 8.2-mile Pennock Island Challenge in Ketchikan and the 5 km race Change Your Latitude event in Sitka] went fantastic. Everything went so smoothly, the weather was phenomenal, the water temperature was perfect. I was wearing a blueseventy Helix for both swims and the overall atmosphere was very Alaskan and true to spirit.”

While Jones is a young and emerging swimmer, Val most definitely skews young.

Val is hands-down the most decorated masters swimmer in history. With 300+ FINA world records to her name, she also performed one of the greatest performances in pool history when she set six world records in a single race: 50m (29.89), 100m (1:05.16), 200m (2:24.19), 400m (5:02.65), 800m (10:21.68), and 1500m free (19:38.63) en route to the 1500 short course freestyle record.



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