During the 1980s, South Africa’s political isolation made it nearly impossible to obtain swimming wetsuits. Faced with this challenge, Kevin Richards, the founder of Blu Smooth, was compelled to create his own wetsuit for his swimming and triathlon pursuits.
Collaborating with local surfing wetsuit manufacturers, he designed a basic, no-frills, sleeveless swimming wetsuit for himself and a small group of friends. Although they were nameless, these wetsuits quickly gained popularity among local ocean swimmers and triathletes.
After years of competing in triathlons globally, traveling the world to swim, and working in the swim wetsuit industry, Kevin returned to his hometown of Nelson Mandela Bay in 2013 to launch Blu Smooth, drawing inspiration from the Indian Ocean.
Blu Smooth tests its wetsuits in the challenging oceanic conditions of Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa, where we swim almost every day in seas ranging from serenely calm to intensely stormy. Through this rigorous and continuous testing process, our experienced team provides us with critical feedback on wetsuit performance and durability, allowing us to consistently enhance, innovate, and evolve our designs.
Rest assured that when you wear a Blu Smooth wetsuit in the water, it has undergone extensive ocean testing and will deliver top-notch performance, no matter the conditions.
