NEW YORK (Associated Press) - U.S. Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard not only has to overcome her competitors in the pool, she also faces a relentless obstacle: the sun.

“Here I am a swimmer and I have tried every sun block out there and I don’t care how water resistant it says they are, I still would get sunburned by the end of practices,” she said in an e-mail from Beijing.

Now, she is sponsored by a company that makes sunscreen designed for athletes that is supposed to last longer in the pool. “I love it, it will stay on for hours and even put it on under my makeup,” she wrote.

The product was made by Mission Product, a startup company targeting professional athletes and exercise enthusiasts with skin care products tailored for them. Mission and competitors are trying to capitalize on the world’s attention on the Beijing Olympics.

Johnson & Johnson is an Olympic sponsor that is heavily advertising on the games and its Neutrogena brand has Active Breathable sun block lotions and sprays made for athletic users.

Johnson & Johnson, Coppertone maker Schering-Plough Corp. and Playtex Products Inc., which makes Hawaiian Tropic and Banana Boat brands, had nearly two-thirds of the sun care market share last year, according to research firm Mintel. They all make skin care products geared toward athletes. Small brands had more than 12 percent of the market, up from about 9 percent in 2005.

The U.S. sun care market has been growing as consumers grow concerned with the dangers of sun exposure, according to Mintel.

Schering-Plough reported that its sun care sales rose to $239 million last year from $222 million in 2006. Energizer Holdings Inc., which owns Playtex, reported skin care sales rose so far this year, mainly due to strength in its sun care lines. Johnson & Johnson does not break out sales numbers for its sun care lines. None of the three reports specific sales figures for their lines for athletes.

Industry analysts say products designed for athletic types are not new to the market, as companies slap the word “sport” on bottles to attract consumers who want to be, well, sporty. Coppertone Sport products have been on the market since 1999.

Still, few U.S. sports and athletic retailers are carrying these kinds of products.

Deutsche Bank analyst Bill Schmitz said “none of the stuff ever sticks.” He said athletes aren’t “heavy duty users” of these kinds of products because “they are a lot less high maintenance” than the average consumer of skin care products. Plus, the industry already has thousands of well-known brands, he said.

But that isn’t stopping some from trying to market products for enhancing or protecting athletes’ skin as people all over the world are consumed by the Olympics.

Besides Beard, Mission Product is sponsoring several other Olympians. Basketball star Carmelo Anthony, softball player Jessica Mendoza and triathletes Hunter Kemper and Sarah Haskins are designing a Mission line for athletic needs.

The company launched in mid-May, and has shipped nearly $1.1 million worth of products to retail stores, said CEO and President Josh Shaw. The company refused to release actual sales figures. Mission’s products are in large retail chains such as Champs Sports, Lady Foot Locker and Vitamin Shoppe.

Companies starting out in this niche market are targeting specialty stores, such as a bicycle shop, where an athlete goes to buy gear and not a discount retail or department store. Others are taking their product directly to the athlete.

Morning Indigo’s Skincare for Athletes can be found at triathlons and other races.

“This is basic skin care. Most of the skin care lines are so focused on beauty that they just don’t seem to look any other way,” said Taylor Sparks, who launched the organic skin care line in 2005 and has annual sales of less than $100,000 a year.

Sparks said sales were up because she is sponsoring triathletes who are not competing in Beijing, including 5-time Ironman champion Heather Gollnick.

“They are putting beauty and athleticism together,” she said. If you have to limit your sodium intake I strongly suggest you consult with your doctor before trying this one. A few years ago I met a woman in her mid seventies. She had the most beautiful skin I’ve ever seen on an adult. She was wearing no makeup and you could tell she had no “work” done but her complexion was flawless. Her hair was soft and shiny and she had a fresh, natural sent.

She told me that she had always been very sensitive to chemicals and had always used nothing but baking soda for bathing and shampooing. She said the best part is that she seldom had to clean her shower because the baking soda kept it clean for her. The results were marvelous. I tried it and it really does work.

Then I ran out of baking soda and forgot about it until today. It’s time I tried it again.

You can find large containers of baking soda at some stores, which is great if you also use baking soda for its many household cleaning and laundry possibilities. It’s great stuff. You can find it anywhere and it’s cheap! Again, if you have problems, check with your doctor first. Baking soda contains a lot of sodium and might be absorbed through the skin.

Anyone who knits or crochets knows that dry skin comes with the territory. People who work with yarns are forever searching for a skin care product that will provide relief. Unfortunately, most products designed for dry skin don’t do the job. However, a good shielding lotion, now recommended by thousands of doctors, may be just the dry skin care knitters and crocheters are looking for.

Why do needle arts dry your hands? The outer protective layer of the skin consists of dead skin cells, fats and oils. This combination effectively protects the skin from irritation and locks in natural moisture. Yarns leach the fats and oils from the skin, and tiny cracks form. Although these little cracks may not affect your needle work immediately, they do get worse.

Eventually, the yarn catches on your skin like a hangnail with hosiery and it becomes very uncomfortable – as the over 50 million crocheters in America know too well. To make matters worse, chemical dyes from the yarn are absorbed and cause even further damage.

The skin care solutions most turn to are moisturizers. However, traditional moisturizers are often greasy and contain chemicals that also cause dry skin. So, once the grease soaks in or dries and you can actually work again, the best you can hope for from this type of skin care treatment is temporary relief. When the product wears off, your skin is still dry and cracked.

What can you do about this problem? Thousands of doctors now recommend a shielding lotion for dry skin care. A good shielding lotion is different from traditional moisturizers because it doesn’t simply coat the skin: It bonds with the outer layer of the skin to form a new protective layer than keeps out chemicals and locks in natural moisture. The skin can then heal itself.

Here’s what one needle arts fan had to say about it:

“I’m in my 60s, and live in a place where it’s quite dry most of the time, and I’ve had a lot of trouble (for years) with dry skin on my hands — finger tips and thumb tips cracking open, lots of roughness on the sides of some of the digits, generalized coarseness and roughness … I encountered shielding lotion in a store that sells high-end hand woven garments, yarn, and knitting and weaving supplies. I tried a sample and then bought a bottle.

”I’ve been using it throughout the day for about a week now, not longer. My hands are completely different now, already … The rough skin sloughed off over several days’ time. The skin adjacent to the cracks on my thumbs softened a lot and I clipped it off with a fingernail clipper and the cracks healed up and have disappeared.

”The lotion sinks in very quickly and completely, and there is no residual greasiness. When I wet my hands there is none of the greasy feeling that other products have had. There is no perfume in the lotion, and therefore no odor on the hands. I’m using it every four hours during the day. I could not recommend this stuff more highly. I’m totally satisfied, even amazed. My hands appear to have regressed in age by several decades. I’d give this stuff ten stars if I could.”

If you’re involved in needle arts and looking for a skin care treatment product that will help your dry skin, give shielding lotion a try. You may enjoy needle arts even more, and your hands will display your work beautifully.