An unmarked Mercedes Sprinter van loaded with custom blueseventy Helix wetsuits and various other items was stolen after the British Gas Great Swim in the Docklands area of London and has now disappeared.
CCTV actually showed a man in the early morning hours of July 3rd approaching the rental van, unlocking it and shortly after driving off with everything inside. How the man seen on the famed British Closed Circuit TV had such easy access to the vehicle is still not clear at this point. The theft itself was detected at 8:30am when Dean Jackson of blueseventy returned to the vehicle.
"To come out of the Ramada hotel in the Docklands and see an empty space where the vehicle was left is quite sickening, especially knowing all the effort that went into ensuring the Elites had custom suits of their color and size choice, and not forgetting all the stock destined for Great Scottish Swim athletes in September," said Jackson.
The Elite suits Jackson is referring came from the British Gas Great Swim held on Saturday July 2nd and feature the names of the Elites on the chest and unique colors on the arms for easy recognition of the athletes during the TV broadcast. After the event blueseventy collects all these custom suits from Elites to make sure they are around for the next event in the series.
According to the event website, the Great Swim in London is the biggest open water swim in the south of England, with 5,000 participants having taken to the waters for the 1 mile swim in both 2010 and 2011. To keep things orderly with such big numbers, athletes wear timing chips and go off in waves of about 300 people every half an hour. Tom Allen won the 2011 London event in 16:31:22.
In addition to the Elite wetsuits, various other blueseventy products, banners and tents were inside the van and Jackson hopes these items will be returned. He also hopes that the personal items lost will come back to him. Jackson, his wife and son were actually stranded because of this situation and returned to their home with public transportation. Son Seth actually walked away from this on a happy note with a didgeridoo, bought by his dad to distract from the situation.
Currently the blueseventy crew is looking on the internet to see if any of the unique products missing are popping up on eBay or similar sites and they urge consumers to keep an eye out for items not offered by official retailers.
"If you are buying a suit from through a private sale please be vigilant and ask searching questions when being offered any suits for sale, either in person or online. An authorized blueseventy dealer is the only fully legitimate place to buy a suit," added Jackson.
