I didn’t believe my eyes when I saw this picture of Andy finishing today:
It looks like Andy has left his long time sponsor Speedo and it now with TYR. Just last month he was rocking a Speedo top in Kona.
Given his long time relationship and swimming background, I thought he’s be a Speedo guy for life!
Was there a press release on this that I missed?
Money talks
I figured something was up at Kona when he did the bike leg in non speedo clothing
.
Sweet! I got a new buddy! 
Hmmm I guess that makes TYR the fastest swim clothing in triathlon then!!!
he must be getting paid quite the sum of money.
i don’t consider myself a brand whore, but my experience - and the experience of a large number of people i’ve trained with over the years - has led me to the conclusion that speedo products are simply superior to tyr’s stuff.
Mine has been exactly the opposite.
I agree. Potts comes from a ITU background and those Speedos have been considered some of the best suits for swimming by a number a guys I know. That said, beyond the US development teams, Speedo has not been a big player in Triathlon apparel. Andy was probably their one and only top level sponsored athlete. I also heard Speedo was not expanding its limited triathlon line.
It probably came down to money in the end, but I can say that Andy was a big fan of the Fastskin suits.
Between Mark and Andy – we’ll be seeing a lot of TYR at the front of the swim pack.
“Between Mark and Andy – we’ll be seeing a lot of TYR at the front of the swim pack.”
Not necessarily since Andy will still be wearing blueseventy wetsuits and pointzero3 swimskins…
And MarkyV will presumably still be wearing Xterra wetsuits and swimskins…
Not to talk bad about Speedo, but they might be too big for their own good. I have contacted Speedo a few times to get images of certain athletes for interviews, and while it wasn’t very surprising to me that people there seemed to not know Any Potts, but they did not even know established swimmers like Peter Vanderkaay. Eeach time I got the big run around and people usually just asked me “Andy Who and Peter Who?”
Maybe they only know Michael Phelps.
I think the fit with TYR is much better for Andy. The TYR crew is passionate about triathlon and they know all the athletes, including the ones they don’t sponsor.
I am very happy for Andy, and for TYR.
Hey Shawn,
Don’t be so sure you won’t see Andy wearing a TYR swim skin in Kona and other non wetsuit races in 2009…
It is very exciting for TYR to partner with Andy. He is a great fit for the business and further supports our commitment to multisport and swimming.
With Andy’s self declared (at the 70.3 press conference) focus on Hawaii in 2009 could we see both male and female World Championship victories for TYR? I hope so.
Ben
Besides the money we should look into the companies.
Both swim products but TYR made a good investment in triathlon both in gear and sponsoring athletes, although Speedo keeps the lead in the chlorined water, they do not offer much for triathlon other than old tweaked swim stuff.
Any other new additions to the TYR Team??
herbert -
this is probably because, while speedo sponsors them, i seriously doubt that they consider sponsorship integral to their business model.
swimming is simply not like the biking world. speedo doesn’t have a thousand sponsored athletes on their roster like zipp does. only a small proportion of the athletes in beijing got their lzr suits for free. everyone else had to pay.
the margins simply aren’t there in the swimming world for widespread sponsorship. you need to buy a training suit once a year, and then maybe one or two racing suits a year. then you’ll need to buy four or five pairs of goggles at $10 a pop. that’s about $250/year for a regular swimmer. it’ll now be more because of the lzr, but they didn’t need to sponsor that many people for an effective marketing campaign. the bulk of the money that a swimmer spends is to join a club, which pays for pool time and coaching.
but this is money that goes to a pool or a coach, not a manufacturer like speedo.
contrast that to a triathlete or cyclist. a triathlete or cyclist spends $250/year on food, chains, cassettes and tyres alone! if you want to buy an entry level bike, you’ll be spending $1800 that goes to a retailer, which is the equivalent to 6 years of racing for an age group swimmer.
sponsorship to bike manufacturers and the like is much more viable - because they get a lot more of the money that a triathlete spends on the sport - and much more lucrative, so of course they’ll be much more accommodating.
it’s simply a question of priorities.
It is very exciting for TYR to partner with Andy. He is a great fit for the business and further supports out commitment to multisport and swimming.
Ben,
Nice move. It’s good for everyone involved. Best wishes for continued success.
Just wanted to echo Herbert’s thoughts - Speedo is a great company, but it is a very BIG company with a world wide brand presence in many markets. It’s been proven time and time again that brands like this have a hard time down-shifting into small niche markets, such as the triathlon market. For them, markets like this are an after-thought at best.
TYR by contrast is nimble and smart enough enough to see the value in the Tri Market, and I am sure they will do very well.
has always seemed to me that Speedo has a much firmer grasp in the pool swimming world and less so in tri… because they don’t need it. Go to a college championship meet, everyone is wearing FastSkins of sorts - or a large majority at least. Our school teams are sponsored by Nike - except swimming - which still insists on buying Speedo suits.
just an observation that may or may not be correct.
Our school teams are sponsored by Nike - except swimming - which still insists on buying Speedo suits.
Then they are one step ahead anyways, Nike is dropping out of the competitive swimming market.
just an observation that may or may not be correct.
You are absolutly correct. Speedo is like Kleenex in the context of how big and dominant the brand is in it’s core market - pool swimming. There are 100’s of thousands of Masters swimmers that know of no other brand. That’s why going the other way - the tri wetsuit companies trying to break into that market with their swim skins are in for a massive up-hill battle. Blue who? Nineteen what? We are basically starting from scratch, even though we have great product, that is competitivly priced. For example, with apologies for the commercial plug - the Nineteen Frequency SS, our new swim skin will retail next year for more than half the price of the Speedo Lazer! I have heard that parents of age-group swimmers are complaining about the price of the Lazer - and here’s a great much less expensive alternative, but it was the Lazer winning all the Gold medals and that’s what everyone wants!
“The TYR crew is passionate about triathlon and they know all the athletes”
**Totally. Ryan Dolan is our contact at TYR and their sponsorship coordinator for swim and tri… he loves triathlon and races quite a bit himself. He aint too bad either. 
**
Edit: Benny B rawks the house too. Ben… I soooooooooooooo owe you a long overdue email. Coming up shortly. See you in two weeks?
that’s too bad. I’ve had a couple Nike suits I like, their material is a little weird but they make some with really nice skinny straps in the back.
Nike race suits rock for the stubby legged among us. Like me…