Commonwealth Games England today announced that global aquatic sports brand arena has been appointed Official Supplier of Aquatics Wear ahead of this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Arena will provide racing suits, training suits, goggles and caps to the aquatics team who will contest 44 swimming events and 10 diving events during the Games. Additionally they will also provide a range of merchandise that Team England fans can buy later this year.
Commonwealth Games England Chief Executive Adam Paker said: “We are delighted to be welcoming arena to our family of Team England sponsors and they will provide our aquatics team with the best possible kit in which to perform and train. What’s even more exciting about this partnership is that fans of Team England can buy kit too bringing them closer to the team than ever before.”
The Commonwealth Games have been held every four years since 1930 (except for 1942 and 1946), and in 2014 will welcome 70 teams. The event has grown since the first Commonwealth Games featured teams 11 nations competing in six sports – with swimming being the only sport contested by women. At the Glasgow Commonwealth Games some 4,500 athletes are expected to compete in 17 sports.
“This is an historic appointment for arena, being the first time we’ll be equipping Team England at a Commonwealth Games,” said Luca Belogi, arena’s General Manager for International Business. “It’s also significant for us since the UK is one of our primary markets, and representing one of the ‘home’ nations at the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in Scotland will give us great exposure and increase brand awareness in the region. Partnering Team England at the Commonwealth Games will give us a fantastic springboard as we continue to establish arena as one of the leaders in the UK swim market.”
While the partnership with Team England is a first, arena has been sponsoring Commonwealth Champion - freestyle and butterfly sprinter - Francesca Halsall for several years as a member of the company’s Elite Team of international champions. Fran won the 50m butterfly event in Delhi 2010 along with three silver and one bronze medal, and is aiming to be part of the team in Glasgow, again over a number of events.
Arena is distributed in the UK by Solo Sports Brands Limited.
“We are really pleased to be involved in this new collaboration with arena,” said Digby Gunson, Director of Solo Sports. “For over six years, we’ve been working hard to promote what we believe is clearly the world’s leading range of racing and training swimwear. The exposure gained from kitting out Team England in Glasgow should help to fuel our existing efforts, and with the cutting-edge nature of arena’s products, we are optimistic that the brand will develop and see more significant growth here in the UK. We are very proud to be closely associated with Team England and we sincerely believe we can make a material contribution to their success by equipping them with the best products in the market.”
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