arena and Swimming Australia join forces

  

Swimming Australia: December 15, 2016: Swimming Australia is thrilled to announce a new partnership with iconic swimwear brand arena, that will see them become the official swimwear supplier of the Australian Dolphins Swim Team for the next four years.

The exciting partnership with Italian based arena, a leading manufacturer of competitive swimwear and equipment, will commence in January 2017, and will see Swimming Australia committing to partner and help drive sales of arena products in Australia.

Some of the stars of the Dolphins wearing arena include World Champions Cate and Bronte Campbell, Mitch Larkin, Emily Seebohm and World Championship medallist Jessica Ashwood.

Swimming Australia CEO Mark Anderson said, “We welcome arena to our team and our swimming family in Australia.”

“We will be working closely with arena to further enhance our elite performances in the pool over the coming four-year cycle, as we seek continuous improvement and world’s best partners to assist us in the next stage of our development.

“Commercially, Swimming Australia is in its strongest period in recent history after re-signing with Mrs Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting until 2020, and announcing the signing of new partner Optus just prior to Rio, both as Principal Partners. 

“We are looking forward to further improving our elite performances wearing arena products, but also helping the arena business grow and develop here in Australia,” Anderson said.

Swimming Australia National Head Coach Jacco Verhaeren said, “Today’s announcement is fantastic for the Australian Dolphins team.”

“I have worked previously with the arena team when I was a coach in the Netherlands, and I have seen first-hand the focus, expertise and passion they display when it comes to the elite level.

“Already many of our swimmers race in arena, and I am really excited to see what the broader team can achieve with this new partnership.”

Luca Belogi General Manager, International Business Division arena expressed his excitement at the partnership.

“We are very proud and excited about this new partnership,” Mr Belogi said.

“Australia is a country of swimming and the Australian Dolphins team is one of the strongest teams in the world, with a long history of success in the pool.

“arena will make every possible effort to contribute to its future success, through our technology, equipment and continuous support.

“This partnership is a significant announcement for arena globally, and will be a key pillar of our business development in Australia. 2017 is set to be a fantastic year for arena Down Under, as the partnership with Swimming Australia coincides with the appointment of a new business partner, Double Line Sports.

“Double Line will be our exclusive distributor in Australia, with the goal of becoming the market leader in the next 5 years,” Mr Belogi said.

arena’s endorsement of Swimming Australia comes off the back of a summer in which its Dolphins achieved strong results on both the Olympic and Paralympic stages in Rio.

Swimming Australia and arena look forward to achieving great things together on this next phase in our swimming journey.

 

arena history and background:

·         The arena brand was created by sports visionary, Horst Dassler, son of the Adidas founder and President of Adidas France.

• In awe of the outstanding achievements in the pool at the 1972 Munich Summer Games, Dassler started forming plans for a swimwear company dedicated to aquatic sports and created the new performance
• Dassler immediately started forming plans for a swimwear company dedicated to aquatic sports and created the new performance swimwear brand known today as arena.
  
  In 1973, just one year after the Games, arena launched its first competition swimwear line with the introduction of Skinfit.

• From the time Arena Founder Horst Dassler started his venture, arena was focussed on winning.

• arena has one goal: to strengthen and promote aquatic sports,

                “Through a continuous pursuit to team with athletes for inspiration we’ve consistently provided products that match and exceed their expectations.”

 

Further Information:

 

arena

·         Since 1973, arena has created and marketed water wear products for competitive swimmers and swimming fans worldwide, and is universally recognized as one of the premium brands of high quality swimwear and equipment. Over the last 40 years, arena has developed strong expertise in creating best-in-class products with particular focus on the pool segment, while also expanding into leisure and beach wear.

·         Today the arena brand has a presence in 116 countries around the globe. With direct representation through wholly-owned subsidiaries in Italy, France, Germany/ Austria and the United States, the group also employs a network of 35 qualified business partners in more than 100 countries, while the Japan-based Descente Ltd owns and manages the brand in 11 countries of the Far East.

·         arena’s ties to the world of sport, and swimming in particular, are reinforced through sponsoring activities at different levels, including governing bodies, national federations, athletes and clubs. In an historic agreement signed in early 2014, arena became the principal sponsor and technical partner of the swimming world’s governing body, FINA (Federation Internationale de Natation). In addition, arena is technical sponsor and official supplier to many swimming federations including the United States, Australia, Netherlands, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, Croatia, Norway, South Africa, Ukraine, Romania, Czech Republic, Finland, Argentina, Portugal and Estonia.

Double Line Sports

·         Is a family run business established in 1996, operating from their headquarters in Rydalmere, Sydney.

·         Originally founded in 1991 as Hawkins Sports by directors Rowland Hawkins and Andrew Van Hooven, the company has distributed Babolat tennis products (among others) for the last 20 years, specializing in efficient product distribution across all of Australia, and developing partnerships with their customers through understanding their needs.