arena Welcomes UVA Superstar Kate Douglass Under New NCAA NIL Rules

courtesy of arena, a SwimSwam partner

Global swimwear brand, arena, is proud to announce the signing of its first-ever college athlete, and its second amateur endorsement deal, under the new NCAA NIL (name, image, and likeness) rules that came into effect on July 1st, 2021.

Kate Douglass, the 20-year-old Olympic Bronze Medalist, currently in her third year at the University of Virginia, is one of the top student-athletes across all college sports. As a freshman, Douglass made waves in the collegiate swimming world when she became the fastest freshman of all-time in the 200 IM at the ACC Championships – a meet where she went on to claim several additional titles including an individual win in the 100-yard fly. Although the NCAA Championships were canceled in Kate’s freshman year (due to Covid-19), she finished the season strong, boasting the top 200 IM time in the country, and was seeded to win the 2020 NCAA title.

Kate’s 2019 momentum carried throughout her sophomore year. Determined to succeed despite overwhelming adversity in the face of a global pandemic and unprecedented pool closures, Douglass returned to the ACC Championships in her second-year ready to go. Kate clenched individual first place finishes in the 100 fly and the 100 free in addition to anchoring Virginia’s relay to a historical ACC finish, clocking in at a new all-NCAA record time. A few months later, at her NCAA Championships debut, Kate swam head-to-head with the reigning Olympic Champion in all three of her events. Touching the wall first in her lead-off event, Douglass proved herself to be the fastest swimmer at the meet and was crowned champion in the 50 free.  In her second and third individual events, she finished in second place – just milliseconds behind her competitor’s record-breaking times. Kate’s performance played a vital role in scoring team points for Virginia and helped to write program history when UVA finished the season with the 2021 National Championship Title – the first in school history.

After a massive collegiate year, Douglass headed in to the postponed 2020 (2021) Olympic Trials with maximum velocity. To earn her spot on the Olympic Roster, Kate had to finish in the top two in either one of her best events. The 100 fly was the first event on her lineup; after dropping over a second off her entry time, Douglass joined a very exclusive group of female swimmers to ever break the sub-57 mark; despite her jaw-dropping performance, Kate finished 3rd and one spot outside the Olympic roster.  However, Kate’s grit and resilience was on display just 24 hours later when she swam her 200 IM final in a lifetime best. That time launched her past the race-favorite and punched her ticket to Tokyo, and secured her spot on the 2020/1 US Olympic Team with a second-place finish just 0.02 seconds off the winning time.

With just one race to swim in Tokyo, Douglass headed into the games with her eyes on a medal. In her Olympic debut, Kate led her prelim heat from the start and finished with a career-best time. Keeping the momentum through her semifinal heat, Kate headed into the Olympic finals as a podium favorite with the top-seeded time. Swimming against the most competitive field in the world, and arguably one of the deepest 200 IM finals of all-time, the Olympic rookie dug deep on her final 50, coming from behind the pack and passing several Olympic veterans on her way to touch the wall 3rd and claim her first Olympic Bronze Medal for Team USA – a truly paramount feat for a first-time Olympian.

Since the 2020 Olympic Games that took place this past July, Kate has returned to the University of Virginia for her junior year. She has shown no signs of letting up on and is right back to breaking records in NCAA competition. Just this past month Kate threw down an enormous swim that crushed the previous ACC Record and ranks her as the fourth fastest women ever. Even more impressive, this record swim didn’t come in the 200 IM, her signature event, but rather the 200 breast. Kate’s versatility unmatched in the NCAA, and she has the potential to win a wide array of events at the upcoming NCAA Championships this March. Kate will have a chance to show her short-course prowess on an international stage this December as she is set to compete in the FINA World Swimming Championships in Abu Dhabi. Team arena, along with the rest of the swimming world, is exhilarated to watch Kate in the coming months as her career continues to flourish through consummate sprinting abilities and growing versatility.

With so much already under her belt and so many opportunities still coming her way, Kate’s future looks bright.  “I am so excited to partner with arena!” Douglass exclaims.  “I’ve been racing in arena since high school and it feels great to make this partnership official. As an NCAA athlete, I’m so grateful for the opportunity to work with a company that wants to support me both as a student and an elite swimmer. I can’t wait to see what the future holds!”

Arena North America’s GM, Mark Pinger, summarizes the brand’s excitement to welcome Kate to the team and support her throughout her future in the sport and beyond: ““We couldn’t be more excited to have Kate join our team of athletes.  I am particularly impressed with her versatility and improvement over the past few years.  The future will be very bright for Kate and we are lucky to support her.”

Kate is an exemplary addition to arena USA’s professional team, and will represent the brand alongside her Olympic teammate, and fellow training partner at Virginia, Paige Madden. She also joins 17-year-old Olympic Gold Medalist Lydia Jacoby who just recently signed a professional agreement with arena in November of 2021.

See arena North America here.

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