World and National Records Set with TYR Tracer™ Technology

In Past Five Weeks, TYR Athletes have Broken Records and Set Multiple Lifetime Personal Bests

In world-class displays of talent combined with breakthrough technology, TYR athletes shattered records and swam to lifetime personal best results around the globe in recent months. These November and December successes mark the highest concentration of victories in TYR company history.

At the French National Championships in Angers on December 6^th, TYR’s Amaury Leveaux smashed the world record in the men’s 50m butterfly SC. His time of 22.29 showed a remarkable 4.3% improvement over his previous 50m butterfly best. Leveaux, the only athlete in history to swim under 22 seconds in the 50m freestyle LC and under 1:47 in the 200m freestyle LC events, wore Tracer Rise in his world record-setting sprint to the wall. Also in Angers, Aurore Mongel set a new National Record of 2:04.97 in the women’s 200m butterfly, a 2% improvement over her own prior record.

World record history was rewritten at November’s FINA World Cup in Stockholm as well, when 26-year-old Peter Marshall treated swimming fans to a one-two punch, setting new world marks in the 100m and 50m backstroke SC. Just days later, Marshall eclipsed his own 100m record in the final World Cup stop in Berlin in a time of 49.63, an improvement of .31 over his previous best time. Marshall singularly laid claim to one third of the nine total world records broken on the 2008 World Cup circuit, an incredible accomplishment in a mere four day span. In January of 2008, Peter Marshall made history by becoming the first swimmer to wear a polyurethane woven fabric, one of the key technologies of TYR’s Tracer Rise, during competition.

TYR athletes Mary DeScenza and Will Copeland loaded up on gold at the USA Swimming Grand Prix in Minneapolis in November. DeScenza left no room for error, winning gold medals in each of the six events in which she competed. Copeland also enjoyed several wins, kicking off the first night of competition with a gold in the 200y freestyle. He followed this feat with a victory in the 100y freestyle, crushing the competition by two seconds in a time of 42.42. Copeland rounded out his trio of gold medals with a winning sprint in the 50y freestyle.

Following these performances, numerous TYR athletes broke national records and set lifetime personal bests at the USA Short Course National Championships in Atlanta, Georgia, December 4th-6th. Mary DeScenza secured the women’s high point award with the most wins of any swimmer in the meet, taking home five national titles. Her course record-setting 1:51.58 in the 200y backstroke was the fourth fastest time ever recorded in this event as well as a lifetime personal best. In total, DeScenza swam to four lifetime bests at the Nationals meet. 2004 Olympian Amanda Weir clocked three personal bests and won national titles in both the 50y and 100y freestyle. Her winning time of 47.15 in the 100y freestyle was the second fastest time in swimming history.

Adding to the weekend’s successes, Olympian Matt Grevers sprinted to gold in the men’s 50y freestyle in a time of 18.95. He was followed to the wall by Will Copeland who scored the silver. Copeland took the gold in the 100y freestyle and recorded two lifetime personal best performances overall. Grevers claimed three individual silver medals to accompany his gold, along with four lifetime personal bests, during the three-day competition.With Ford Aquatics teammates Jeff Dash and Adam Ritter, Grevers contributed to a silver medal award in the 4 x 100y freestyle relay.

Mike Alexandrov was another TYR athlete who swam to USA National Championship victories in Tracer technology. Alexandrov took gold and set lifetime bests in both the 100y and 200y breaststroke events. 2008 Olympian Eric Shanteau joined Alexandrov on the podium, winning a silver medal in the 200y breaststroke and improving his prior personal best time by 2.4%. Shanteau also claimed a silver medal in the 200y individual medley, his first competitive event following surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.

On November 17^th, Eric Shanteau was honored with USA Swimming’s prestigious Golden Goggle Perseverance Award in New York City. Shanteau, one of TYR’s many Tracer-clad athletes to compete in the 2008 Olympic Games, was diagnosed with testicular cancer one week before qualifying for the trip to Beijing. After turning in a lifetime best performance in the Olympic 200m freestyle, Shanteau returned home to successfully beat his cancer.

Adding to recent accolades, newly signed TYR athlete Andy Potts wore Tracer Triathlon at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Clearwater, Florida, on November 8^th. Potts led the pro men’s field out of the water with a course-record-breaking 21:44 in the 1.2 mile open water swim.

“This is one of the most astounding series of athletic achievements in TYR history”, said Steve Furniss, TYR co-founder and 1972 Olympic swimming medalist, “We could not be more proud to see these athletes reaching such incredible levels of success. To see four world records fall in less than two months is truly exceptional.”

The Tracer line of competition swimwear, including Tracer Rise and Tracer Light, maximizes performance benefits to athletes through patent-pending design, the result of years of physiological and drag-reduction engineering. Tracer suits combine the sports’ lightest and most hydrophobic fabric with targeted compression to streamline the body and reduce muscle undulation. While wearing Tracer Technology, TYR athletes have demonstrated up to a 4% improvement in their swim times.