Chris Duplanty will join Arena North America as its Director of Sales, the Portland-based swimwear company announced today. In his new role, Duplanty will oversee strategic sales planning and development as Arena continues to strengthen and grow its U.S. presence.
“We are thrilled to add Chris to the Arena North America team. He brings not only a wealth of experience and success in the swim category, but also a unique perspective as an Olympic athlete, coach and executive,” said Tim McCool, vice president and general manager for Arena North America. “Chris is a talented and driven professional who is highly respected in the Olympic movement and he brings a proven track record of success in strategic planning. We are pleased to welcome Chris as the newest member of our rapidly growing U.S. Headquarters staff.”
A three-time Olympian in water polo, Duplanty competed in the 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games – earning a silver medal in 1988 and serving as captain of the team at the 1996 Olympic Games. In addition, Duplanty returned to his fourth Olympic Games in 2000 as an assistant coach of the U.S. Olympic women’s water polo team that won the silver medal.
In addition to his experience as an Olympic athlete and coach, Duplanty spent over a decade with the U.S. Olympic Committee in various leadership capacities, including serving as a Vice-Chair of the Athlete’s Advisory Committee and as a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee. Duplanty joins the performance swimwear company from PointZeroFive, LLC, his own strategic consulting company, after previously serving in executive positions at PacifiCare Health Systems and Adidas America.
As a high school athlete in Honolulu, Hawaii, Duplanty was a state champion and All American in both swimming and water polo. Following high school, Duplanty continued to achieve both conference and national recognition while competing on both the swimming and water polo teams at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). In addition to receiving All-Conference, All America and Scholar-Athlete honors, Duplanty helped lead the UCI water polo team to a NCAA Division I National Championship.
Duplanty earned both an undergraduate degree in Economics and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Irvine.
This unedited press release was provide to swimswam.