;)
Watson ended his pro career in December with a sixth-place finish at the World Championships in his home country. Salomon's last pro race was a dramatic one, bringing her a win at Ironman France last year. But even before they retired, they were hard at work on KiWAMi, a technical clothing company that they formally launched in January. The business melds their nationalities in a name: KiWAMi, combining the name of New Zealand's iconic bird with the French word for friend, "ami." Their logo? A beret-wearing kiwi.
;)
Watson, who represented New Zealand in the Olympics in 2000, said he will continue to do a few races in France, but just for the fun of competing. Other career highlights included a third at the 2001 Commonwealth Games and a third at worlds that same year. In addition, over the years he amassed national titles over all distances--sprint, Olympic and long-course. And he logged a fifth place at Ironman New Zealand two times. Salomon was a member of the French national triathlon team from 1994 to 2003, where she logged fifth, sixth and seventh places at the world long-course championships. In 2002, she won the French long-course crown and scored a sixth place at Ironman Australia. She works as a professor of physical education and sport in Pau.
Watson and Salomon wed in 2002 in Pau, France, where they now make their home. We thought it was high time to find out a little more about their new venture and life beyond the pro circuit. (And you can find out more by stopping in at their website.
TRIATHLON INFORMER: Please tell us a little bit about KiWAMi and your goals for the future.
CRAIG WATSON: KiWAMi is a brand of triathlon race wear that Hélène and I have been working on for a couple of years, although the product itself has been available to the public only since January 1. During our racing careers we've pretty much tried all the triathlon race wear brands available, and we both had the same opinion—that there was room for improvement and an opportunity for a new brand in the market. We found that the products available were either not adapted properly to triathlon needs, or boring, or expensive, or not peformance-enchancing, or all of the above. So we endeavored to produce an original product that meets all that criteria. I raced my World Cup races in a first prototype of our "Amphibian" model in 2003 and, to my surprise, I found it to be the best suit I'd ever raced in! It was then that I started to really believe we were on to something good.
So we plunged headlong into developing other models during 2003 and came up with the goal of being ready to sell to the public from 2004 onwards. At the moment we have five models available with one more due to be released during the (Northern Hemisphere) season.
Our main goal this year is to get a foot in the market and let triathletes know that we're out there. Logically, our primary focus is on France, then Europe and then the Americas, Oceania and Asia. (Although anyone in the world can buy our product from the Net right now.)
We realise that for KiWAMi to work well financially, we need to be present in all the triathlon markets worldwide, and that's going to take a few years.
We came up with the name KiWAMi by joining two words—KIWI (NZ flightless bird, national emblem and a common nickname for New Zealanders)—and AMI, the French word for friend. So KiWAMi is a friendly Kiwi triathlete...our logo is a kiwi with a French beret on his head. The logo brings fun to the brand—because you wouldn't do triathlon if you didn't enjoy it, right?!
TI: How are you finding the balance between launching a business and
training/racing?
;)
CW: Last year it was pretty full-on. I had to be extremely organised with training and KiWAMi to be able to do both. Because training takes up so much time and energy, KiWAMi moved along pretty slowly. I had to adjust my goals for both KiWAMi and training/racing in order to be realistic.Now I just have KiWAMi to look after, which is more than a full-time job at present. If I feel like going out for a swim, bike or run, I do it with no pressure.
TI: As someone who's spent significant time racing in both places, can you compare the triathlon scene in France with the racing and training in New Zealand? What do you see as your target audience in France?
CW: France is a lot more structured than New Zealand, as you have a club system, wherein you have to be a member of a club in order to race, and you are expected to race in the team uniform. The society in France is a lot more structured, too—bureaucratic is a better word!—so I think the way triathlon works here just follows suit. In a way, it's great because it gives a lot more credibility to teams and events, which draws sponsorship. In NZ, you just rock up to an event half an hour before the start, pay your entry fee, pick your own bike spot, do the race and have a beer with your friends afterwards. It's more relaxed and low-key. I found it great for off-season sharpening (my "on-season" being in Europe).
So KiWAMi's target audience in France is the clubs. That's not changing in a hurry, either—we all know that grassroots are the real strength of any sport. KiWAMi needs to provide the athletes with what they want and treat them with respect.