Editors Note: Been to a triathlon lately? Looked at the clothes people are wearing? The majority are probably wearing clothes by DeSoto Sport. Emilio DeSoto has forged the industry's leading triathlon clothing company by staying (to steal someone else's tag line) "true to the tri". We caught up with  Emilio at Interbike and hounded him until he'd answer our 10 questions about his business, broken bones........and how handsome one must be to become a triathlete. Here then is our 10 questions with.........Emilio DeSoto

TT/NM....Hi Emilio, thanks for the interview. Your company, DeSoto Sports seems to lead the way in the triathlon apparel market yet you haven’t branched out to bike gear, is the philosophy of “triathlon first” what makes you so successful? 

 

Emilio DeSoto....We are a triathlon gear company, we don’t claim to be anything else. Years ago we used to sell to other categories, such as mountain biking, snowboarding, and women’s activewear, but I saw what I really loved to do, the triathlon stuff, slipping away in terms of priority. It stopped being fun for me personally. So I canned everything but triathlon. My goal is to stay authentic. Swimmers, cyclists and runners do buy our stuff. I think now that Triathlon has become such a respectable sport, they start to feel like triathletes when they wear De Soto. Some of the most successful clothing companies in the world, such as Patagonia and North Face (mountaineering), Oxbow (sailboarding), Spyder (skiing), Prana (rock climbing and yoga) and Ashworth (golf), have gotten that way by just focusing on their core market. 

 

TT/NM.....The T1 wetsuit is an interesting design. I had read that Dan Empfield worked on the project with you. Who’s design was it? How long was it “on the drawing board” before you actually started to produce them? 

 

EDS.....I will answer the last question first. The concept came together over a few margaritas. There was over 9 months of testing, refining and more testing. We probably made over 20 different prototypes, each one better, and faster than the one before. When I saw the 21st one was not as fast, I knew the 20th one was going to production. 

 

We both designed it really. We sat down and listed everything bad about the current wetsuits on the market. Not just the bad things as triathletes wearing them, but also the bad things for dealers, and for manufacturers. The list came pretty easy: 

 

Triathletes: OTHER WETSUITS -Neck chafing, zipper breaking, shoulder fatigue due to zipper and one-piece design. All these were eliminated or reduced drastically with the T1 Concept. The hardest thing for me to convince someone who has not tried it, is that it is not a gimmick…you really do swim faster. 

 

Dealers: OTHER WETSUITS – Require 13-15 sizes to fit 98% of market. The same size range is covered with 6 sizes of the T1 by mixing sizes of the Pullover and the Bibjohn. So it is a smaller financial commitment. 

 

Manufacturer: Zipper and area around zipper are 75% of all repairs. No zippers on ours. 

 

You have a revamped line of clothing coming out next season. What’s new and exciting for the age group triathlete? 

 

Almost every style has been improved in some way. New fabrics that breathe more, absorb less water, and dry faster. There will be new colors, and a few new styles for both men and women. Also, a new model of T1 called the T1 TRES. It will replace the DOS and is a lot easier to remove. The original T1 will stay the same. We still cannot find a way to make it any better or faster. We will offer it in a new Titanium color. The entire suit will be a metallic color. Pretty flashy. 

 

You broke your leg last season……….didn’t I see a picture of you racing………doing the run on crutches? What’s that about? Are you that addicted? 

 

Yeah, I broke my fibula into 5 pieces in February. I had surgery to put all back together. I now have a titanium plate and 6 screws in my ankle. I did Wildflower Olympic on crutches. Swimming was easy, biking was fine, did the 10K on crutches. I trained that way and got to a point where I could do about a 7:30 mile on them! 

 

I look at injuries as opportunities rather than obstacles. Just about every injury offers an opportunity. Instead of ruling myself out of my favorite race, I decided to just to step up to the plate and taste what it is like for a few close triathlete friends of mine that are physically challenged. They do every race and live their entire lives under the adverse conditions of their handicap. So I decided to try it for one race, knowing that eventually I would be blessed with a complete recovery. 

 

Tell us a bit about your triathlon background 

 

I have been doing triathlons since 1981. I have done over 400 races. I raced as a pro from 1983 until 1990. I have done all the great races in the world, including Kona a few times. I have been an All-American and on the US National Age Group Team almost every year it has existed. The races I go to now, about 12 per year, are centered not just around racing, but around meeting up with good friends and enjoying the entire weekend around the race. Our motto is “the race is a small part of the entire experience.” We encourage racing without the negative stress. 

 

DeSoto sports sponsors many clubs/teams (including our own Tri Team SW). What is your philosophy behind sponsorship? 

 

Pretty simple. Will you go buy a product just because a pro is using it? If you were a 16 year old skate rat, then maybe. But triathletes know that pros get product for free. Triathletes do their research and make purchasing decisions based on what will work best for them. So I prefer to give a bunch a clubs a good deal on stuff, rather to give a few pros free stuff. It goes a lot further for me. 

 

There are lots of new players coming into the triathlon apparel business lately. How does DeSoto maintain its competitive edge? 

 

New players, and big players, yet they all seem to exit after a few years. The most recent to leave the sport were Speedo and Polo RLX. The newest one entering is TYR. I always welcome competition. I shared my new line with the big wigs from TYR at Interbike. Like a good chef, I have no secret recipes. We survive and thrive in this sport by a number of means. Aside from the trivial business things that I can mention (quality product, superior customer service, satisfaction guarantees, etc), there needs to be an emotional connection to it. I love what I do, in the sport I do it in. If we did a fraction of the business we do, I would still be doing it and De Soto would still be around. Not the case with these other companies. 

 

If you weren’t running your own business, what would you be doing? 

 

Oh, I would probably move to New Mexico, join a triathlon club, and start an internet triathlon news site. Actually, after 13 years in this business, and given I have not had a boss since I was a lifeguard in my early 20’s, I could never work for anyone. I do have a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA, so I would probably be doing something in that field, in some way. 

 

Any funny or embarrassing race stories?  

 

I think I have rambled too much already. If you need to fill space in another issue, hit me up again for one. I have many stories. 

 

Tell the truth, how big of a thrill was it for you to finally meet me at Interbike?  

 

My biggest thrill about meeting you was to see that I am not the only ugly triathlete out there! No the truth is, I can’t remember what you look like anyway. No really, I do remember….and you are as ugly as I am. 

 

I will try to console you by giving you a little saying my mom told me when I was a kid. I am from Cuba so it is in Spanish. 

 

“El hombre es como el oso,

mientras mas feo,

mas hermoso.” 

 

The literal translation is:  

 

“Men are like bears,

the more ugly they are