Arena (swimwear)
Arena is a brand of competitive swimwear created in 1973 at Adidas France, by its former president Horst Dassler. Sold by Adidas in 1990, the brand now represents two unrelated product lines.
With its headquarters in Tolentino, Italy, the Arena brand has a presence in 103 countries around the globe. With direct representation through wholly owned subsidiaries in Italy, France, Germany, and the USA, the group also employs a network of qualified business partners in 86 countries, while the Japan-based Descente Group owns and manages the brand in 11 countries of the Far East.
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Arena in Europe [edit]
After Adidas and Sarragan in France, the brand has changed hands among 3 German and Italian investment houses. The holding's products are most popular in Europe, though offered internationally, except the Far East.
The company markets a high-technology line of swimwear using their Powerskin fabric, which is said to be less absorbent of moisture and reduce drag due to its second-skin compression fit.
Alexander Popov, César Cielo, Frédérick Bousquet, Laure Manaudou, Gary Hall, Jr., Rebecca Soni, Ranomi Kromowidjojo and Alexander Dale Oen are among well-known swimmers seen competing in Arena swim suits.
Arena also makes specialty swimwear for triathlon and water polo.
Arena Japan (Arena Descente) [edit]
Descente, a Japanese maker of sporting apparel, owns the Arena trademark in Asia and has been putting it on its swimwear since 1976. Today, Arena (along with Mizuno and ASICS) is a top domestic brand of performance swimwear in Japan.
Arena Japan shares no design or technological heritage with the products of (European) Arena. Hence there are essentially two distinct brands using the Arena name and logo, and they have existed almost equally long.
Arena Japan top-of-the-line racing suits are still made in Japan for quality control.
In 2009 the World Record was established by Ryosuke Irie of Japan in 200 Backstroke in Australia wearing Arena Japan swim racing suit.
Production offshoring [edit]
Arena's swimwear was made in France until April 2007, when its factory at Libourne (near Bordeaux) closed, with over 160 lay-offs. Arena is now made in China.
Arena Japan is also largely made in China, although, as of 2012, some models are still made in Japan.
Sponsored athletes [edit]
- Rūta Meilutytė, Lithuania
- Rebecca Soni, United States
- Sarah Sjöström, Sweden
- Yuliya Yefimova, Russia
- Therese Alshammar, Sweden
- Paul Biedermann, Germany
- Francesca Halsall, United Kingdom
- Emily Seebohm, Australia
- Eric Shanteau, United States
- Arturo Perez Vertti, México
- Kirsty Coventry, Zimbabwe
- Roland Schoeman, South Africa
Sponsored universities [edit]
Arena sponsors the thirteen time national champion Auburn University men's and women's swimming and diving teams, as well as the 2011 and 2012 nation champion, UC-Berkeley's men's swim team
Sponsored teams [edit]
Arena sponsors the following swimming federations: USA Swimming, Norwegian Swimming, Swimming South Africa, Romanian Swimming and Modern Pentathlon, Polish Swimming, German Swimming, Irish Swimming, Lithuanian Swimming, Hungarian Swimming, Croatian Swimming, Estonian Swimming, Ukrainian Swimming, Swedish Swimming, Czech Swimming, and All Russian Swimming.
Arena also sponsors many elite club teams such as Fullerton Aquatics, Scottsdale Aquatic Club, and the Santa Barbara Swim Club.
