Courtesy: Speedo
Global swimwear brand Speedo has today been announced as the new main partner of the Finnish Swimming Association in a multi-year deal, which covers the national team swimming activities.
The co-operation is significant in the history of the Finnish Swimming Association, with a substantial amount of the contract value earmarked for personal contracts with top athletes, supporting the association’s aim of securing partnerships that benefit its top individuals and helps them to pursue their careers.
The deal is complemented by a partnership with sports retailer Intersport Sello and Harri Juslèn, a merchant with a competitive swimming background.
In addition, two new online stores will be opened for the Finnish swimming community – the Speedo Team ProShop will cater for active swimming sport enthusiasts, whilst the “Ui Elämäsi Kuntoon” [Swim for your life] store will serve recreational swimmers.
Sanna Airaksinen, Executive Director of the Finnish Swimming Association, said: “Already at the beginning of the negotiations, it became clear that Speedo and Intersport Sello, like the Swimming Association, want to develop the visibility and position of swimming in Finland. It is important to us that the national team’s equipment partner is a leading swimming sports equipment brand. It is also great that with Intersport Sello we will be able to serve the swimming sports community even more extensively in the future.”
Kirsi Johnston, Brand Manager of Speedo in Finland, added: “The cooperation with the Swimming Association and Intersport Sello is a significant entity for us and it is great to be able to develop the sport together with dedicated partners. The most important part of Speedo’s ideology is that swimming belongs to everyone. Good equipment is important for all swimmers, but performance is emphasised when moving to the racing level. A good example of this is the Fastskin collection: Pure Valor and Pure Intent suits were launched in 2019 and since then 65% of new world records to have been broken have been done so by athletes in the suits.
“In addition, more Olympic gold medals have been won in Speedo than in any other brand and Speedo is the market leader in major swimming countries such as China and the United States.”
The performance credentials at the highest level, coupled with a desire to help support the Finnish swimming community, meant this deal was a natural choice for all parties.
“Business partnerships need to be rethought in a new way so that individuals, companies and sports all benefit from each other. We want to be a sports federation which facilitates athletes’ chances of getting cooperation agreements that benefit them financially,” Airaksinen states. “The personal contracts of the athletes included in the cooperation will be agreed with Speedo and Intersport. The agreements assess, among other things, the sporting level and commercial value”
Speedo products in Finland are imported by Oy Sultrade Ltd.
About Speedo®
The world’s leading swimwear brand, Speedo® is passionate about life in and around the water, creating revolutionary new technologies, designs and innovations, and supports swimming from grass-roots through to the elite level. In the 1920s Speedo® made history with the Racerback: the world’s first non-wool suit. In 2008 Speedo® redefined swimwear again with Fastskin® LZR RACER® – the fastest and most technologically advanced swimsuit ever created. 2011 saw Speedo unveil another world first with the Fastskin Racing System – a cap, goggle and suit designed to work together as one. Speedo® is owned by Speedo Holdings B.V and distributed in over 170 countries around the world. To find out more visit: www.speedo.com
