Skin Cooler Contest Winners

First place Male and Female - 

David Matheson submitted by Tina Matheson

I’m writing on behalf of my husband, David Matheson. He is an 8 time finisher of the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. The first 6 times he raced on the Big Island, he thought the best way to stay cool in the lava fields was to wear a sleeveless singlet. However, no matter what type, or amount of sunscreen we applied, he would always end up burnt to a crisp.

 The sunburn from 2009

 And again from 2012

These sunburns were so bad, that you could still see the lines from them way into the new year. I’m talking like 4-5 months later! Definitely not healthy for the skin. 

In 2013 I convinced him to give the De Soto Skin Cooler tri top a try. He used it during the Ultraman Canada race in the August heat of the Okanagan Valley.  He was sold right away. While his competition was suffering, he just kept his top wet and was he was cool all day. He went on to win the race that year and set the course record!

 Ultraman Canada 2013

He qualified for Kona in both 2014 and 2017 and wore this top both times. We ended up getting him a second top as he loved the first one so much. No sunburn, and had some of the best results yet!

 Kona 2017

He is competing in the Ultra520k Canada race again this year (formerly Ultraman). The weather in and around Penticton where the race takes place has been 30-34 degrees Celsius of late. We have ordered him the Skin Cooler short sleeved running top version for day 3 of the race, which consists of a double marathon. We are hoping it arrives in time!

Thanks De Soto for a great product! 

Steph Canon

I picked up my skin cooler right before IMCDA 2017.  I’m from San Francisco and train in mainly 65 degree weather. Leading up to the race I saw that temps that weekend would be soaring up to 110 during the middle of the day.  I had several other items from De Soto that I loved but I bought the Skin Cooler right before the race and never got to train in it.  Unsure of how the day would go (my first full) I put it in my T2 bag, reciting “nothing new on race day” along with what I planned to wear and figured it was there if I wanted to try it.  During the middle of the bike I got extremely sick and couldn’t take on any nutrition.  My bike pace slowed from a anticipated finish of 6:30 to will I make the cut off.  I rolled in to T2 with minutes to spare and barley able to walk.  As I sat in T2 with heat exhaustion and all the volunteers telling me to not continue as I likely needed medical attention. I stared at my skin cooler shirt and thought…well today couldn’t get worse.  I took every minute I had to stay in the cool tent in T2 covered in wet towels trying to cool my internal temperature.  I left T2 with a few minutes to spare before getting cut off and told myself I’d walk until I got cut…cause then I could at least tell myself I tried. I kept myself wet and within a mile I was feeling dramatically better.  I had volunteers fill the back of my shirt with ice and every hose I saw I had them hose me down.  I wasn’t able to eat still but my body was letting me hydrate and I was able to finally jog.  I don’t think I would have been able to finish with out the skin cooling technology that is in that shirt.  

Dan Pfeil 

Recently I purchased a De Soto kit for Ironman Lake Placid, that I just completed on July 22nd.  It was my first time in a De Soto kit and I absolutely loved both the shorts and top.  I raced in the Riviera Tri Short, which were super comfortable for the entire 140.6 miles.  I also raced in the Skin Cooler Short Sleeve top, the first time wearing a sleeved top during a race.  The sleeves were great, no need for chafing cream under the arms.  But most importantly the shirt was form fitting, looked great, and kept me cool on the marathon!  The pockets in the back were perfectly constructed to where I grabbed some ice and stuffed the top pocket, providing a cooling effect.  Plus with the sun beating down on portions of the run course I never felt overheated, which I contributed to the lightweight Skin Cooler top.

Great products, and I will continue to be a De Soto customer!!

Jodi Dodge

I have always found running in heat and humidity a huge challenge. Running in heat is usually a sufferfest for me and especially in race situations. I decided to try a Skin Cooler top and hat for a local 10 mile race that is in July in St.Johns, Newfoundland Canada called the Tely 10. The temperature for the race was 29 Celsius with 94% humidity. It was awful. I wore the shirt and hat and poured water on both at the water stations and for once I didn’t overheat. I was comfortable the entire race which is such a miracle and ended up with a PB. This was my the seventh year I did this same race and I finally had a personal best!! I was beyond pleased and as a result I purchased the sneak-a-poo trisuit and plan to wear it at IMMT on August 19 this year. Can’t wait to try this suit at my first IM given the success I had in staying cool with other De Soto Skin Cooler products. 😎