USA Triathlon and Lagardère Unlimited have agreed to a partnership that makes Finland-based fitness training system Omegawave the title sponsor of next month's event in San Diego. The Omegawave World Triathlon San Diego will be held April 18-20. Lagardère brokered the deal for the event, which is one of eight in the Int'l Triathlon Union’s World Triathlon Series. The event is being co-produced by USA Triathlon and Germany-based UpSolut Sports AG and Lagardère. Financial terms of the deal were not available, but it is the first title sponsorship for the second-year event. Athletes in training can wear the Omegawave sensor belt -- similar to a heart rate monitor -- and get instantaneous feedback through a smart phone app. Teams from the NFL, MLS and NHL have used the technology. Omegawave will not distribute the training belts to participants, and activation plans for the sponsorship are still being developed. Lagardère Senior VP/Corporate Partnerships Jamey Sunshine said, “I just think we see it as a perfect fit for this event. We saw the event as an excellent platform to introduce the product and help them generate global exposure and really reach, in this case, the world’s best athlete.” He added of Omegawave, “This provides them with a large platform to introduce the product. We just saw it as an excellent training tool, a good fit in what they could offer the athletes in San Diego. We found the product to be incredibly innovative.” USA Triathlon Communications & Media Relations Manager John Martin said the San Diego event last year attracted more than 2,100 amateur athletes.
