Ryan ChartrandTalented San Luis Obispo triathletes Laura Coombs and Evan Rudd have excelled this season, earning All-American honors and competing at World Championships, thanks to the support of Team Fluid.
Fluid is a new San Luis Obispo-based company founded by David Brown and Richard Smith. Brown is a Poly grad student working on his thesis on nutritional oncology while Smith graduated in exercise science. Their aim was to develop a revolutionary sports recovery drink with the highest-quality ingredients based on the latest nutritional and scientific research.
The drink has a carbohydrate foundation, whey protein isolate and L-glutamine and Vitamin C to reduce soreness and support the immune system. Fluid also helps prevent overtraining, a serious issue for athletes, by facilitating recovery between training sessions and rebuilding muscle and restoring glycogen stores quickly. The carbs help stimulate protein, which aid in the absorption of carbohydrate. Glutamine plus Vitamin C helps stop the inflammatory process before it starts.
“It’s the first of its kind designed strictly from the purity of research,” Brown said. “Its purpose is to get athletes to eat correctly after they train and work out.”
As head coach of Cal Poly’s triathlon team, Brown has created partnerships between Cal Poly athletics and Fluid.
In addition to the triathlon team, Fluid has sponsored the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams, the men’s volleyball team, Cal Poly Wheelmen, the women’s field hockey team, the rugby team and the Mustang Manglers men’s soccer club. Fluid has also partnered with Tiger Bar Sports, an elite athletic training facility near San Francisco that trains Olympic track and field athletes.
Coombs, a Cal Poly graduate, and Rudd, a journalism senior, have raced for Team Fluid and had breakout seasons this year. At the Ford Ironman World Championship on Oct. 13 in Kona, Hawaii, Coombs finished seventh in the 18 to 24 age group with a time of 10:47:41.
Rudd finished 30th at the International Triathlon Union Short Course World Championships in Hamburg, Germany in the 20 to 24 age group and ranked second in the nation at the season’s end. As the Cal Poly triathlon team’s top athlete for the last two seasons, Rudd is considering going pro after he graduates next season.
“This has definitely been my best (triathlon) season,” Rudd said. “I really owe a lot to the product, really. I’m as grateful for (Fluid) as I’m sure they are happy for what I’ve done for the team.”
There are a number of Cal Poly athletes racing for Team Fluid in addition to those around the country. Triathlete and civil engineering student Tamara Presser, downhill mountain biker Jenna Kowalski, downhill skier and ag business student George Hjelte and alumna Ashley Erickson are a few local athletes racing for the team.
Athletes compete in several races throughout the year, including seven in the West Coast Collegiate Triathlon Conference. There is also the triathlon championships at Treasure Island in April, Nationals in Tuscaloosa, Ala. and Wildflower.
“We’re rapidly growing, mostly in SoCal at the moment,” Brown said, referring to its planned placement in 200 stores in southern California. Fluid will also be the headline sponsor of the March Triathlon Series at Lake Lopez, which includes 600 to 800 competitors and is hosted completely by the Cal Poly triathlon team.
Fluid began in Brown’s basement last year, where he and Smith made the product and gave it to athletes.
They were the ones who encouraged Brown and Smith to market the drink, which Brown stresses is a nutritional product like Gatorade.
The company encourages anyone interested in Fluid to come to their office in San Luis Obispo for free samples and information about the company and partnerships.