London, UK, 28 May 2014 – Arena, the official supplier of aquatics wear to Team England at the Commonwealth Games, has today (Wednesday, May 28) unveiled the kit that the country’s best swimmers and divers will be wearing in their quest for gold at Glasgow 2014.
The black, grey and maroon coloured swimsuits were the result of a very unique design process that saw Arena consult elite athletes for their input during a number of creative sessions. From the early stages of development through to completion, the athletes were consulted on the look and feel of the suits that they would be wearing in the pool at this summer’s event.
The design is closely aligned to the identity of Commonwealth Games England, the body responsible for leading and managing Team England. The maroon colour is a variation of the red used in the team logo, whilst the famous English lion – the main symbol of Team England – features on the suits. The Arena logo is printed in gold to help inspire the athletes on to gold medals in Scotland.
Commonwealth and European champion Francesca Halsall said: “I love the design of the suits, love the style and the fit is perfect. Hopefully this means that I’ll be able swim fast in it! I’ve got a lot of events to do in Glasgow and at the last Commonwealth Games I came away with five medals, so that’s a target I’m aiming to beat.”
British champion Roberto Pavoni commented: “I love the colours of the suit and also the lion that runs up both legs. I especially like the ‘Commonwealth Games Glasgow 2014’ detail – it makes it a bit more individual and a one-of-a-kind suit. My aim for Glasgow is to win a medal. The 400 IM is my main event, so hopefully I do well and bring back a medal.”
Arena is providing racing suits, training suits, goggles and caps to the aquatics team who will contest 44 swimming events and 10 diving events. In total, the global aquatics sports brand will be providing 430 items of kit to Team England.
From Monday June 2, supporters can buy replica Arena kit online through the Commonwealth Games England website and a number of retailers (full list of outlets below).
Arena is asking fans to help build a Team England Supporters’ Flag by tweeting their messages of support and good luck using #aspiretobe. The best tweets will be printed onto the flag.
Visit facebook.com/ArenaPeople or @ArenaPeople on Twitter for more information on Arena’s partnership with Team England and to tell Arena what you #aspiretobe in sport.
Replica kit can be purchased through the following retailers:
www.activinstinct.com
www.proswimwear.co.uk
www.wiggle.co.uk
www.mailsports.co.uk
www.nessswimwear.co.uk
www.arenaswimwearstore.com
www.allensswimwear.co.uk
www.simplyswim.com
www.surfdome.com
For further information please contact:
Steve Spencer
Lexis
sspencer@lexisagency.com
+44 (0)207 908 6486
About Arena
Since 1973, arena has created and marketed waterwear products for competitive swimmers and swimming fans worldwide, and is universally recognised 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.
arena has commercial subsidiaries in Italy, France, Germany/Austria and the USA, and also operates through a global network of distributors and licensees in over 100 markets worldwide. In the Far East (11 countries), the arena brand is owned and managed by the Descente Group.
arena’s ties to the world of sport, and of 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 (Fédération Internationale de Natation). In addition, arena is a long-time partner of LEN (Ligue Europeenne de Natation), and technical sponsor and official supplier to many swimming federations including the USA, Netherlands, Italy, Russia, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, Croatia, Norway, South Africa, New Zealand, Ukraine, Romania, Czech Republic and Estonia. For the first time in its history, arena was selected official supplier of the Team England Aquatics squad for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
The Arena Elite Team of international swimming stars holds numerous individual world records between them in both long and short course competition formats. Among the illustrious Team members are:
James “The Missile” Magnussen (AUS, 100m freestyle World Champion), Cate Campbell (AUS, 100m freestyle World Champion), Rūta Meilutytė (LIT, 100m breaststroke Olympic and World Champion), Ranomi Kromowodijojo (NED, 50m freestyle Olympic and World Champion, 100m freestyle Olympic Champion), Daniel Gyurta (HUN, 200m breaststroke Olympic and World Champion), Katinka Hosszú (HUN, 100m, 200m, 400m IM, 200m butterfly World Champion), László Cseh (HUN, 400m IM World Champion, Olympic silver medallist (200m butterfly, 200m & 400m IM), Olympic 200m IM bronze medallist), Cameron van der Burgh (RSA, 100m breaststroke Olympic and World Champion, 50m breaststroke World Champion), Chad Le Clos (RSA, 200m butterfly Olympic and World Champion, 100m butterfly World Champion), Sarah Sjöström (SWE, 100m butterfly World Champion), Vladimir Morozov (RUS, 50m, 100m freestyle World Champion, World Championship 50m freestyle silver medallist), Yevgeny Korotyshkin (RUS, 100m butterfly World Champion, Olympic 100m butterfly silver medallist), Anastasia Zueva (RUS, 50m backstroke World Champion, Olympic 200m backstroke silver medallist), Emily Seebohm (AUS, Olympic and World Championship 100m backstroke silver medallist), Jérémy Stravius (FRA, Olympic 4x100m freestyle champion and 4x200m freestyle silver medallist, 100m backstroke, 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley World Champion), Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA, 1500m freestyle World Champion), Luca Dotto (ITA, World Championship 50m freestyle silver medallist), Radosław Kawęcki (POL, 200m backstroke World Champion), Marco Koch (GER, World Championship 200m breaststroke silver medallist), Thomas Lurz (GER, 10km open water Olympic silver and bronze medallist, 5km, 10km, 25km World Champion), Oussama Mellouli (TUN, 10km open water and 1500m freestyle Olympic Champion, 1500m freestyle, 5km open water World Champion), Hannah Miley (GBR, 400m IM World Champion), Francesca Halsall (GBR, World Championship 100m freestyle silver medallist and 50m freestyle bronze medallist), Lotte Friis (DEN, 800m and 1500m freestyle World Champion, Olympic 800m freestyle bronze medallist).
Former swimming legends, including Aaron Peirsol (USA, five-time Olympic Champion (100m, 200m backstroke, 4x100m medley), 16-time World Champion (100m, 200m backstroke, 4x100m medley, 4x100m freestyle)), Rebecca Soni (USA, three-time Olympic Champion (200m breaststroke, 4x100m medley) and seven-time World Champion (50m, 100m, 200m breaststroke, 4x100m medley)) and Alain Bernard (France, 100m freestyle Olympic Champion), continue their collaboration with Arena as ambassadors.
About Solo Sports
Solo Sports Brands Ltd is the UK distributor for Arena Swimwear, based just outside the beautiful Lake District in the North West of England.
The Solo Sports team aims to demonstrate the ethos and spirit needed to deliver the optimum results to our business partners based on experience, integrity and the ability to perceive, listen and react to market requirements.
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