Swimming Australia and Speedo part ways after 60-year sponsorship

Swimming Australia has today announced that its long-standing sponsorship by Speedo will come to an end on 31st December 2016.

The 60-year partnership, which began at the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games, is one of the longest-running sponsorships in Australian sport.

However, Swimming Australia has a replacement swimwear sponsor in place with the four-year deal to be announced in the New Year.

Commenting on the long association, Swimming Australia Chief Executive Mark Anderson called it one of Australia’s “most successful”, stating “some of the Australian swim team’s most iconic moments have been in Speedo.

“We are forever thankful for Speedo’s commitment to the sport and to our organisation. The Rio Dolphins team were extremely proud to wear the Speedo green and gold suit and gold cap.

“We part ways respectfully and thank them immensely for their support of the Dolphins.”

Speedo Australia Brand Manager Graham Eyres added “it has been a privilege to have been a partner of Swimming Australia for many, many years.

“We would like to thank Swimming Australia and we wish them continued success.

“Whilst the direct sponsorship has finished, we will still be supporting the swim team through the next three Olympics and we will also continue to be inspiring people to swim by promoting participation in swimming for everyone.”

While Speedo will no longer directly sponsor Swimming Australia, it will continue to sponsor individual athletes such as Mack Horton and Cameron McEvoy and is signed on with the Australian Olympic Committee as a team sponsor through to 2028.

The result may well be confusing with Australian swimmers set to wear the new, yet-to-be-named brand, at the 2016 World Championships in Budapest but slipping back into Speedo costumes at the next three Summer Olympics.

Founded in Sydney in 1914, Speedo is now a subsidiary of the British Pentland Group with its based in based in Nottingham, England.

A leader in swimwear technology, over the years Speedo products have evolved from being manufactured from cotton, to nylon, into Speedo’s famous Endurance fabric (the World’s first chlorine resistant fabric), Aquablade in the 1990s and into the revolutionary FastSkin in the 2000s.

Celebrating its 85th birthday in 2013, today the Speedo brand can be found on an increasingly diverse range of consumer orientated products. In the last year it has also moved into the aquatic fitness space with a range of technology including the SpeedoFit app and the Swim Coach digital coaching tool.

Speedo and the Australian Swim Team first officially joined forces at the Melbourne Olympics, where swimming legends Dawn Fraser, Murray Rose, and Jon Henricks led Australia to win eight gold medals.

Speedo continued to be a part of so many historical moments and has a proven track record of success with athletes world-wide like Eamon Sullivan, Libby Trickett, Leisel Jones and Stephanie Rice and current Dolphins Horton, McEvoy and Emma and David McKeon.

Images: Speedo equipped the Australian Dolphins in Rio 2016.

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