Swiss technology innovator HeiQ sponsored the ‘cutting-edge triathlon suits of the Super League Jersey athletes last weekend to help the MaccaNow Foundation fight cancer’. During the Super League Jersey event, HeiQ sponsored the triathlon suits for athletes who entered the corporate relay to support the MaccaNow Foundation.
MaccaNow is a non-governmental organization (NGO) founded by Australian two-time IRONMAN Champion, and Super League co-founder, Chris ‘Macca’ McCormack. His foundation is raising funds for athletes and their family members who are fighting cancer. Chris McCormack explained, “Triathlon is a very small, tight-knit family, and you don’t realize how many people are struck down by illnesses that rob families of so much. That’s how we came about forming the foundation. We all travel around the world racing and raising awareness of cancer and other illnesses.”
The ‘HeiQ empowered tri suit’ was innovated in partnership with the Italian technical fabric specialty mill Taiana and made-to-measure sports apparel specialist REGNA.com to ‘achieve state-of-the-art high-performance race gear that provides ideal support during the triathlon’.
On 23-24 September the second Super League triathlon took place on the island of Jersey. The Super League team note that it is introducing a brand new, fast-paced triathlon format to catch the interest of the broader sports entertainment landscape. Triathlon racing is ‘shorter, sharper, faster, action-packed and even more entertaining, aimed at reaching millions of people worldwide’.
Commenting on the recent sponsorship, HeiQ’s Chief Operating Officer Paolo Savi added, “I’m confident that the suits fulfilled the athletes’ high expectations and demands on high-performance gear.”
The hydro- and aerodynamic drag of the fabric was reduced through ‘surface structure modification at a microscopic level’. As a result, the adhesion of water to the fabric can be minimized. A special HeiQ finishing also aims to smoothen the yarn’s surface, with claims to further improve friction reduction and abrasion resistance, to help athletes protect from chafing and friction-derived injuries. ‘The secret finishing makes the fabric extremely hydrophobic, thus wicking and drying occurs very quickly to avoid wetting out.’
Richard Frickleton, a member of the MaccaNow relay team at Super League Jersey Island, said, “This is definitely the best tri suit I’ve got. I was running flat out, sweating heavily, but I didn’t feel cold when the wind blew. The suit transported the sweat away from me; I felt dry.” Another team athlete, Lucy Richardson added “The tri suit is totally different; great material, a real step above what I’m used to. It feels really fast and I want to use it in a full triathlon next time.”
