Arena, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary with the planned release of a line of vintage products, has signed up again as the exclusive technical sponsor of the Italian Swimming Federation (FIN), involving all its swimming, water polo, diving, synchronized swimming, open-water and rescue teams. Arena held the contract for eight years until 2008, when it was taken over by a small, new Italian firm, Jaked. That company had strong visibility at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 and at the World Swimming Championships in Rome in 2009 with a high-tech swimsuit that was allowed by Fina, the international authority in the swimming world. Separately, Arena has signed a two-year consultancy agreement with Alain Bernard, the French swimming champion, who has put a stop to his professional career. Bernard has launched a Swim Academy to train young swimmers in France.

Topics