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Diamonds For Dutch In Arena Deal

Nov 24, 2012  - Craig Lord

Arena, the swimwear maker, has landed another big national contract at the expense of rival brands: the Royal Dutch Swimming Federation, KZNB, has signed a partnership deal for an initial term of four years.

The brand already sponsored the likes of double Olympic champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo and her teammate Inge Dekker. Now Arena will support all aquatic disciplines in the Netherlands, swimming, diving, water polo, and synchronised swimming.

The Dutch are the latest to sign up to Arena, which includes Russia, Germany, Hungary, and Sweden in its stable of partners.

 
Performance head Jacco Verhaeren welcomed the new partnership: "The deal with arena will give us a head start in our preparations for Rio 2016. I'm confident that this deal will help us to realise our top sports program goals. Arena has shown itself to be a reliable partner and I'm looking forward to working with them."

A statement noted: "Since 2005, technical director of the National Swimming Institute in Eindhoven Jacco Verhaeren has continued a formidable swimming tradition that includes the legendary Pieter van den Hoogenband and Inge De Bruijn, and more recently has boasted one of the strongest female freestyle relay teams in swimming history, breaking eleven world records in the last seven years. At the London Olympics, the Dutch team ranked sixth in the swimming medal count with a total of four medals.



With the Eiffel Swimmers team in Eindhoven, Verhaeren was also involved in the initial tests of arena’s breakthrough Powerskin Carbon-Pro swimsuit, which was released in early 2012 for the London Olympics. Among the Eiffel team participating in the testing, arena swimmer Ranomi Kromowidjojo went on to wear the Carbon-Pro in London, where she was one of just a handful of swimmers to win two individual gold medals. 

Going forward, the Dutch Federation will therefore have the opportunity of their entire national team to don the high-performance Powerskin Carbon-Pro."

Arena General Manager, Brand Development, Giuseppe Musciacchio, added: "
“Teaming up with the Netherlands is a major coup in our strategy to expand the brand in northern Europe. The Dutch federation has a strong and prestigious swimming tradition, and has often been the nation picking up most Olympic medals after the USA and Australia. I am obviously reminded of Pieter van den Hoogenband and Inge De Bruijn, and in today’s world arena Elite Team member Ranomi Kromowidjojo, who is showing the potential to develop into a legend herself. We are delighted to be associated with this proud swimming nation, and look forward to many mutual accomplishments in the future.”

“We are very pleased and satisfied to secure our sponsorship deal with arena,” said KZNB Executive Director Jan Kossen. “We are very thankful for the years we had with Speedo. They were a great sponsor for us and together we shared lots of victories and emotions. With arena we start a new chapter in the future of the Royal Dutch Swimming Association. We are looking forward to a successful and long lasting relationship, and are confident that this deal will help us in the further development of swimming in the Netherlands."