Nancy Jane Sweeney

President, Lyoness Sportswear

By Suzanne D'Amato

Nancy Jane Sweeney has taken the timeless adage that “necessity is the mother of invention” and, well, run with it.

While training for the 2006 TNT Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Marathon in Bermuda, Sweeney, an avid athlete, grew increasingly frustrated with the earphone cords connected to her MP3 music player attached around her waist. The cords were cumbersome, pulling at her earphones and restricting her arm movements.

“Music motivates me while I’m working out,” Sweeney said. “I shopped online to find something comfortable to hold my MP3 player while working out, but I couldn’t find anything.”

Her solution was inserting her music player into the cleavage area of her sports bra. As a result, her music player was centered securely on her body, allowing her arms free range of movement and, ultimately, offering Sweeney more enjoyable workouts.

This stop-gap measure worked for a while – until Sweeney realized that her music player potentially could burn out from perspiration collecting on it during workouts.

Sweeney’s “light bulb” idea came when she designed a built-in, lined pocket into the center of a sports bra. Her pocket design, which is pending patent approval, holds items needed while working out, such as an MP3 player, cell phone, money or keys. Thus, the RhythmBRA and Sweeney’s company, Lyoness Sportswear, were born.

“The RhythmBRA also is comfortable to wear day and night for women and girls who must use insulin pumps or glucose monitors to manage their diabetes around the clock,” Sweeney said. “The bra’s pocket is the right size for holding these devices, too.”

Lyoness Sportswear soon will launch men’s compression T-shirts and shorts and women’s shorts with similar patent-pending pocket designs.

Sweeney is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a bachelor’s degree in interior design and space planning. She has been an interior designer for more than 13 years. Her professional training has come in handy because her interior-design skills easily have translated into creating prototypes, writing specifications, and selecting fabrics and colors for her sportswear apparel.

Sweeney began running to stay in shape. Although she since has retired from running marathons, her current fitness goals include running a half-marathon and a 10K race. Sweeney also has run in a handful of 5K races and participates in sprint triathlons each summer.

Although running helped Sweeney launch Lyoness Sportswear, swimming is the sport closest to her heart. As a college student, Sweeney swam competitively for the university’s swim team and played on the women’s water polo team. She also has been a lifeguard at the National Seashore and is a Masters swimmer.

Sweeney and her husband, J.L., a real-estate attorney, live in Derry with their two young children.

How does Sweeney balance her busy personal and professional lives?

“My husband is incredibly supportive of my sportswear venture,” Sweeney said. “I also try to stay organized, plan ahead and take care of my family first. Then, I can concentrate on my sportswear and interior-design businesses.”

Sweeney enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, gardening, beachcombing and, of course, working out – complete with her MP3 player securely attached to her RhythmBRA.

To learn more, visit www.lyonesssportswear.com.

Suzanne D’Amato is a freelance writer who lives in Bedford.