Arena take on Speedo for the right to dress the Australian Olympic swim squad

ITALIAN label arena is challenging pioneering Aussie swimwear brand Speedo for the right to dress our swimmers in the pool, writes Jessica Halloran.

SPEEDO’s incredible 85-year partnership with Swimming Australia and 60-year affiliation with the Australian Olympic swim team is under threat for the first time from one of it fiercest competitors.

Swimwear giant arena has launched an Olympic assault on the Australian market, signing up some of the biggest swim stars in the country.

There is strong word on the Olympic trials pool deck in Adelaide that arena may challenge Speedo for the official sponsorship of the Dolphins when it is up at the end of the year.

Already most of Australia’s hot favourites for Olympic medals in Rio have turned down the iconic official sponsor Speedo and will wear arena suits.

World champions and arena sponsored swimmers like sisters Bronte and Cate Campbell, Mitch Larkin, Emily Seebohm, James Magnussen, as well as former world No. 1 200m freestyler Thomas Fraser-Holmes and middle distance freestyle star Jessica Ashwood have all applied to the Australian Olympic Committee for an exemption to wear arena rather than the official suit of Australian Olympic teams.

Under the “specialised equipment” rules, these swimmers must not actively promote the brand, the costume itself must be unbranded and “in keeping with” AOC look and design.

But Speedo maintains their grip on the Australian market is very tight. They sponsor 23 swimmers and have big guns on their books too, like three-time Olympic champion Grant Hackett, Cameron McEvoy the fastest man in the world over 100m and 400m freestyle gun Mack Horton.

Night one of the Australian swim team’s Olympic trials saw 70 per cent of the swimmers wearing Speedo LZRX and LZR2 suits.

Cameron McEvoy wears a speedo suit.

For world champion Bronte Campbell, a former adidas athlete now with arena, she has signed with arena because of the fit of the Powerskin Carbon Flex suit on her narrow body, particularly around her hips and waist.

“I have tried all the suits and this is the one that is suited for me and I am sticking with it,” Campbell said. “If you think it is going to make a difference, it is probably going to make a difference.

“When it comes to racing every little bit counts. I am going to get quite technical, they have carbon in their fabric, so rather than restricting your muscles from moving it provides really, really great compression especially around my legs which is really good for me in my underwater technique, that’s where I find it makes a difference.”

It takes Campbell 15 minutes to get the suit on and it can be painful.

“You lose skin on your knuckles because of the friction of trying to drag them on,” Campbell said, laughing.

For Speedo sponsored swimmer and world championship silver medallist, Cameron McEvoy, it takes five minutes to get his shorts on.

McEvoy’s loyalty to pioneering, Australian born Speedo is based on science and feel. He was signed as a 16-year-old to the “iconic” brand and the university physics student, who hopes to work for NASA one day, likes the science behind Fastskin LZR Racer X.

McEvoy has been personally measured by the Speedo research and development team Aqualab on a number of different occasions for the suit.

“It’s not only about how the suit looks and feels but it’s about the science behind it and was competitive advantage it can give to me,” McEvoy said. “As one of Speedo’s sponsored athletes I work closely with Aqualab on an ongoing basis which gives me insights into the suits science and technology.

“Swimming is a lot about feel in the water, and when I swim with the LZR X, the feeling of being able to flow through the water is enhanced.”

In 2013, arena only had two Australian swimmers — Magnussen and Seebohm.

Giuseppe Musciacchio, arena general manager of brand development, said the presence of their brand in the Australian market has never been greater.

“Not only in terms of business but especially in terms of the elite athletes who are working with us,” he said. “Considering that the federation is still sponsored by Speedo — this is a big achievement for us as you can imagine.”

“The surprising thing is the number of athletes who have been asking to swim with a different brand, our brand, in the past three to four years, has been higher than the number of athletes we have signed. This is surprising. This is positive. Even athletes that don’t have any contractual relationship with arena they still decided to choose us, so they ask for permission to wear a different suit. It’s because they trust the product itself. They believe what we can give is a technical partner — it is worth making this choice.”

Arena has seen growth in their presence in the Australian market.

Speedo are set to launch their Olympic suit on May 13 on the Gold Coast and brand manager for Speedo, Graham Eyres, said the company isn’t flustered by the Italian brand’s march into the Australia market.

“Competition is good for any brand,” Eyes said. “Speedo Australia sold more racing suits in the last year than any other year in Speedo’s history. Just recently at the Age Championships we saw 70 per cent of the gold medals from swimmers competing in Speedo and we’re excited at what the future holds.

“We’ve supported and invested heavily in swimming in Australia since the brand’s inception in 1928 and we’re proud to be part of the fabric of the sport in Australia.”

While arguably the cream of Australian swimming has been lured to the arena stable, Speedo is looking to the stars of the future. As well as having high profile athletes like Alicia Coutts, Melanie Wright and the McKeon siblings under contract Speedo has a firm focus on developing younger Australian talent.

This year they launched their junior ambassador program nine “stars of the future” who will be mentored by senior Speedo swimmers.

Back on the numbers, arena’s Musciacchio says they are “closing the gap” in terms of sales with Speedo.

“We are still quite behind when it comes to general suits, swimwear, but since 2012 our tech suits business has been really sky rocketing,” he said.

What would it mean to Musciacchio if an Australian arena star was to win in Rio?

“If they win, it would be pure happiness for us,” Musciacchio said, “Business wise we know it will help. Our logo is not necessarily visible when they win the gold … even if the public may not realise it is an arena suit, all the people around the swimming family; the swimmers, the coaches, the people at the federation, people running clubs, they know it. This is what we think is important.”

The Dolphins head coach, Jacco Verhaeren, says the competition between the major brands can only be good for the sport as it drives innovation.

“Speedo have been the trendsetters in innovation when it comes to providing fast suits for our team,” Verhaeren said.

And Verhaeren said he supports his swimmers no matter the brand they wear.

“Swimming Australia endeavours to promote performance first in all aspects of the sport and performance swimsuits are a personal choice,” he said. “The competition suit is a specialised piece of equipment, similar to a running shoe. I, along with Speedo, support a swimmer’s freedom to choose what works best for them.”

Originally published as Arena take on Speedo for the right to dress the Australian Olympic swim squad