EMILY SEEBOHM JOINS THE ARENA ELITE TEAM
23.02.11
Arena Swimwear, one of the leading brands in the sports waterwear market, has just announced a new sponsorship agreement with Australian teenage swimming sensation, Emily Seebohm (18).
The backstroke, freestyle, butterfly, and IM all-rounder is the first Australian swimmer to join the Italian company’s Arena Elite Team in a three-year deal to last through 2014.
Emily Seebohm first emerged as a name for the future when she was just 14, winning four gold medals (100m and 200m backstroke, 200m freestyle, and 200m IM) and two silvers (50m and 100m freestyle) at the 2006 Australian Age Championships in Sydney. The following year, while still 14, she tied for first place in the 100m backstroke at the 2007 Australian Championships, and also picked up third place in the 50m backstroke. These performances qualified Emily for the FINA World Championships the same year in Melbourne, where she won a gold medal as a member of the world record-breaking 4x100m medley relay team, and placed fourth in the 100m backstroke.
As far as defining moments go, however, March of 2008 proved to be a breakthrough month, as Emily shattered record after record. First she broke the Commonwealth and Australian records in 50m backstroke with a time of 28.10s (just one hundredth of a second outside Li Yang’s world record at the time), then two weeks later at the Australian Championships she broke the newly-established world record in a time of 27.95s (only to have her new mark broken the following day). In the 100m backstroke at the same meet, she became the first Australian to break the one-minute barrier, swimming 59.78 and 59.59 in the semi-final and final respectively and gaining selection for the Beijing Olympics in the process. Five months later at the 2008 Summer Olympics as a 16-year-old, she narrowly missed out on a place in the 100m backstroke, but was a member of the gold medal, world record-breaking 4x100m medley relay team (3:52.69).
In 2009, having won the 100m backstroke and placing second in the 50m backstroke at the Australian Championships, Emily proceeded to the World Swimming Championships in Rome, where she earned a bronze medal in the 100m backstroke, and a silver in the 4x100m medley relay. Barely a week later, she broke the world record in the 100m IM at the 2009 Australian Short Course Championships (58.54s).
If anything, Emily’s year in 2010 was even more impressive than 2009 and 2008. At the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Irvine, California, she won gold medals in the 100m backstroke (in a championship record time of 59.45s, defeating Olympic champion Natalie Coughlin in the process) and 200m IM (beating world champion and record holder Ariana Kukors), and silvers in 50m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay, and 100m freestyle (her first attempt at the event at international level). Later in the year she left the Commonwealth Games in Delhi with 8 medals – gold for 100m backstroke, 4x100m freestyle, and 4x100m medley; silver in 100m freestyle and 200m IM; and bronze for 50m butterfly, 50m backstroke, and 200m backstroke.
Emily was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2009, and has been selected for the BBC series World Olympic Dreams, which follows the preparations of various athletes towards the 2012 Olympic Games in London. She is also participating in a 12-hour relay on Friday January 21st to raise funds for victims of the floods in her home town of Brisbane.
“Signing Emily Seebohm is a really exciting step for Arena,” said Alessandro Carpignano, director general of Arena Swimwears International Business.
“Given Australia’s standing in the swimming world, having a representative on our Elite Team has always been an important goal of ours, and having been able to sign one of its brightest rising stars in Emily makes it all the more pleasing. Her performances over the past few years in a number of different events has been nothing short of extraordinary, and she has even finished developing yet. Emily’s positive attitude, larger-than-life presence, and effervescent personality will make her a vital and strategic ambassador for Arena, and we look forward to a fruitful and mutually beneficial collaboration with her in the coming few years, not least at the London Olympic Games.”
“This is a very exciting time for Arena and one of which the TNF Group are proud to share. We could not have wished for a better ambassador than Emily Seebohm, who is an inspirational athlete. We look forward to being part of the team that will support Emily in her lead up to the 2012 London Olympics” said Guy Tuthill, Arena Swimwear Australia.
“I am excited to be joining the Arena Organization as their Australian Brand Ambassador”, declared Emily Seebohm.
“Joining other Arena ambassadors such as Aaron Peirsol, Kirsty Conventry and Paul Biedermann is a wonderful honor. My decision was made due to the growing technology and awareness that Arena have in the swimming landscape. I feel this decision is only going to benefit my swimming career and help develop the brand in Australia”.
Arena Swimwear is available in Australia at www.swimmer.com.au. Swimmer.com.au stocks the 2011 FINA Approved Arena Powerskin XP Full Body Short Leg and the Arena Powerskin XP Jammers. Swimmer.com.au is also introducing Arena Training Swimwear and Arena Bodylift Swimwear Range in 2011.
The backstroke, freestyle, butterfly, and IM all-rounder is the first Australian swimmer to join the Italian company’s Arena Elite Team in a three-year deal to last through 2014.
Emily Seebohm first emerged as a name for the future when she was just 14, winning four gold medals (100m and 200m backstroke, 200m freestyle, and 200m IM) and two silvers (50m and 100m freestyle) at the 2006 Australian Age Championships in Sydney. The following year, while still 14, she tied for first place in the 100m backstroke at the 2007 Australian Championships, and also picked up third place in the 50m backstroke. These performances qualified Emily for the FINA World Championships the same year in Melbourne, where she won a gold medal as a member of the world record-breaking 4x100m medley relay team, and placed fourth in the 100m backstroke.
As far as defining moments go, however, March of 2008 proved to be a breakthrough month, as Emily shattered record after record. First she broke the Commonwealth and Australian records in 50m backstroke with a time of 28.10s (just one hundredth of a second outside Li Yang’s world record at the time), then two weeks later at the Australian Championships she broke the newly-established world record in a time of 27.95s (only to have her new mark broken the following day). In the 100m backstroke at the same meet, she became the first Australian to break the one-minute barrier, swimming 59.78 and 59.59 in the semi-final and final respectively and gaining selection for the Beijing Olympics in the process. Five months later at the 2008 Summer Olympics as a 16-year-old, she narrowly missed out on a place in the 100m backstroke, but was a member of the gold medal, world record-breaking 4x100m medley relay team (3:52.69).
In 2009, having won the 100m backstroke and placing second in the 50m backstroke at the Australian Championships, Emily proceeded to the World Swimming Championships in Rome, where she earned a bronze medal in the 100m backstroke, and a silver in the 4x100m medley relay. Barely a week later, she broke the world record in the 100m IM at the 2009 Australian Short Course Championships (58.54s).
If anything, Emily’s year in 2010 was even more impressive than 2009 and 2008. At the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Irvine, California, she won gold medals in the 100m backstroke (in a championship record time of 59.45s, defeating Olympic champion Natalie Coughlin in the process) and 200m IM (beating world champion and record holder Ariana Kukors), and silvers in 50m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay, and 100m freestyle (her first attempt at the event at international level). Later in the year she left the Commonwealth Games in Delhi with 8 medals – gold for 100m backstroke, 4x100m freestyle, and 4x100m medley; silver in 100m freestyle and 200m IM; and bronze for 50m butterfly, 50m backstroke, and 200m backstroke.
Emily was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2009, and has been selected for the BBC series World Olympic Dreams, which follows the preparations of various athletes towards the 2012 Olympic Games in London. She is also participating in a 12-hour relay on Friday January 21st to raise funds for victims of the floods in her home town of Brisbane.
“Signing Emily Seebohm is a really exciting step for Arena,” said Alessandro Carpignano, director general of Arena Swimwears International Business.
“Given Australia’s standing in the swimming world, having a representative on our Elite Team has always been an important goal of ours, and having been able to sign one of its brightest rising stars in Emily makes it all the more pleasing. Her performances over the past few years in a number of different events has been nothing short of extraordinary, and she has even finished developing yet. Emily’s positive attitude, larger-than-life presence, and effervescent personality will make her a vital and strategic ambassador for Arena, and we look forward to a fruitful and mutually beneficial collaboration with her in the coming few years, not least at the London Olympic Games.”
“This is a very exciting time for Arena and one of which the TNF Group are proud to share. We could not have wished for a better ambassador than Emily Seebohm, who is an inspirational athlete. We look forward to being part of the team that will support Emily in her lead up to the 2012 London Olympics” said Guy Tuthill, Arena Swimwear Australia.
“I am excited to be joining the Arena Organization as their Australian Brand Ambassador”, declared Emily Seebohm.
“Joining other Arena ambassadors such as Aaron Peirsol, Kirsty Conventry and Paul Biedermann is a wonderful honor. My decision was made due to the growing technology and awareness that Arena have in the swimming landscape. I feel this decision is only going to benefit my swimming career and help develop the brand in Australia”.
Arena Swimwear is available in Australia at www.swimmer.com.au. Swimmer.com.au stocks the 2011 FINA Approved Arena Powerskin XP Full Body Short Leg and the Arena Powerskin XP Jammers. Swimmer.com.au is also introducing Arena Training Swimwear and Arena Bodylift Swimwear Range in 2011.
