Nathan Performance Gear™ Partners with World Champion Triathlete Andy Potts

SHARON HILL, Pa., Sept. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Nathan Performance Gear, the world leader in innovative hydration, reflective, and performance gear and accessories, announced today the formation of a multiyear partnership with Olympian, Ironman®, and world champion triathlete Andy Potts.

The partnership, which encompasses product, marketing, and promotional appearances, makes Potts the face of the Nathan brand, and will have Potts training and competing exclusively with Nathan products. Potts will also become an instrumental vehicle in providing insight and feedback on the development of new performance accessory products for the triathlete community.

"Each year, I aspire to be better than I was in the previous year, and that's going to come down to enhancing my performance on all levels, and partnering with the right companies to help me do so," says Potts.  

"I know Nathan has this commitment to growth and innovation, and to really understanding and working with athletes and their performance challenges," Potts continues. "In doing so, they continue to provide superior products that address and solve these challenges and concerns."

This marks the beginning of a significant relationship between one of the triathlon world's most marquee and successful competitors and one of the fastest-growing and dynamic companies in the outdoor and fitness industries, a move that will shape the competitive landscape of performance product development and innovation for years to come, says Nathan executive vice president of sales and strategy Bridgit Lombard.

"Our name says it all – we're a company invested in developing performance gear – and while we continue to be the industry leader in hydration and reflective gear, we are on our way to becoming the all-encompassing performance accessory leader in the industry," continues Lombard. "Partnering with someone of Andy's caliber really epitomizes the direction we are moving in, and like Andy, the sky's the limit in terms of what we can achieve."

The partnership begins at a pivotal point in Potts' competitive year, as he looks to continue an already successful year with a victory at this Sunday's Marine Corps Ironman World Championship 70.3, a championship he won in 2007.

Potts' other career highlights include:

• Six-time NCAA All-American swimmer at the University of Michigan
• 2003 United States Association of Triathletes (USAT) Rookie of the Year
• 2004 U.S. Olympian
• 2005 ITU World Cup champion
• 2007 Pan American Games champion
• 2007 USAT non-drafting and draft-legal Triathlete of the Year
• 2008 Ironman World Championship –  7th place
• Two-time Ironman champion

Nathan's commitment to developing and maintaining  relationships like the one forged with Potts signifies a larger, overall strategy of the company, which is to partner with those who share the same core values and goals of Nathan, says Lombard.

"Andy embodies the essential characteristics of who we want to work with in all aspects of our business – from our retailers to our international distributors to our vendors to our sponsors," says Lombard.  "We are dedicated to partnering with those who reflect our level of performance and aspiration, and who mirror our core values of relentless determination, humility, willingness to embrace change, ability to be nimble and creatively problem-solve, and who have a sense of the greater good and the impact we can all have on improving the lives of others."

"This partnership, along with several other new and landmark ones we have finalized for this year, stake our claim as a company whose leadership is committed to its employees, its partners, its phenomenal growth, its and its success in ways we once thought never possible," continues Lombard.

For more information, contact Ellen Cassidy at [email protected] or visit www.NathanSports.com.

About Nathan Performance Gear

Inspired by athletes, Nathan Performance Gear is a world leader of innovative hydration, reflective, and performance gear and accessories. Driven by a relentless pursuit of excellence, Nathan's line of race belts and vests, bladder packs, handhelds, runner's packs, bottles, and reflective vests and accessories continue to help athletes of all levels redefine humanly possible. Available in specialty running shops, sporting goods stores, and over 35 countries worldwide, Nathan Performance Gear is a subsidiary of Penguin Brands, Inc. For more information, visit www.NathanSports.com.

SOURCE Nathan Performance Gear