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Filippo Magnini to be with Arena sports-waterwear until 2011

15
Sep '08

Arena, the leading sports-waterwear company, is extending until 2011 its technical competition relationship with the 100m freestyle world champion Filippo Magnini.

“We are delighted with this agreement – states Alessandro Carpignano, general director of Arena Italia – and we want to make it clear that the decision isn't based on enthusiasm following the recent success in Melbourne nor certainly in the run-up to a major event like the Olympics."

"It's based on a deep-seated professional and personal recognition and on a sincere acknowledgement of the sporting values that Filippo stands for. We are extremely happy because we have the honour of continuing to be technical sponsors for an exceptional athlete who holds values like loyalty, sacrifice and professionalism that we consider to be just as important as sporting victories.”

“I'm very happy – said Filippo Magnini just after signing the contract – to be able to go on with a long partnership with Arena, who have always stood by me right from the start of my competitive career, providing me constantly with the most advanced technical material”.

Arena has been supporting Filippo Magnini since 2003 when he won the silver medal in the 100m freestyle at the European short course championships in Dublin. From 2004 onwards there have been repeated confirmations of his talent and results that gradually led to his being crowned the king of 100m freestyle. In 2005 he won world championship gold in Montreal and gold again at the short course in Shanghai.

A few months later he won the European gold medal in Budapest. Finally, what he defined as “the most difficult race” but also the one that confirmed him as 100m freestyle champion: the world championship gold medal in Melbourne, his second after Montreal.

Apart from his competitive activities, the athlete plays an active role working closely with the engineers and technicians of Arena's Research and Development Department who conduct experiments and work to perfect all the products designed especially for competition use.

In fact over the last few months Filippo was one of the main testers in the fine-tuning of the new top competition swimsuit that Arena is developing for the forthcoming Olympic games in Beijing.

The agreement, furthermore, defines a close collaboration between the athlete and the company, even out of the pool: Magnini will link his image with certain PR, advertising and communications activities.

Alongside Filippo in the Arena Elite Team, we find the South African Olympic and world record-holders Roland Schoeman and Ryk Neethling, the greatest French talent in the last twenty years Laure Manaudou, Otylia Jedrzejczak, Kirsty Balfour, Yuri Prilukov , Laszlo Cseh, Massimiliano Rosolino, Emiliano Brembilla, Luca Marin, Federico Colbertaldo, Alessia Filippi and Alena Popchanka.

Arena, founded in 1973 as a spin-off from Adidas, through strong market orientation and unquestionable flair for design, with product innovation and the use of the most sophisticated technology, was able to foresee the requirements of great swimming champions such as Matt Biondi, Alex Popov, Franziska Van Almsick, Filippo Magnini, Massimiliano Rosolino, Roland Schoemann, Ryk Neethling, Lazlo Cseh and Laure Manadou, by transferring the experience of success and the know-how gathered at competitions to products designed for all water sports enthusiasts.

The Arena Group has managed, in the space of a few years, to gain a position of consolidated leadership, obtaining second place in the world and in Europe in the Sports-Waterwear category, with respective value market shares of 12% and 16% (in Europe), and in 2005 reaching a turnover (retail price value) in excess of 350 million euros, of which about 40% generated in the Far East by the Descente Group.

Arena Italia S.p.A.

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