A leading provider of equipment for swimmers arena is launching the new POWERSKIN Carbon-Ultra suit, which incorporates an outer carbon cage shell to maximise hydrodynamics with an innovative inner Ultra-Link System to optimise the athlete’s physiology. 

The power inside concept was inspired by arena’s work with Innovia Technology, a leading consultancy focused on breakthrough innovation.

Innovia, headquartered in Cambridge, UK, has been working with arena since 2008, providing new levels of theoretical understanding into how a swimsuit can be designed to maximise the effectiveness of the swimmer’s actions in the water.

Record of successes

At the 2012 Olympics in London, swimmers wearing the arena POWERSKIN Carbon-Pro suit won 35 medals, including ten gold medals, and beat four world records. At Kazan World Championships in 2015 a further 4 world records tumbled and 24 gold medals were gained. Then at the World Short Course Championships in Doha in 2015, athletes wearing arena’s carbon technology suits excelled, with 23 gold medals and seven new world records.

arena was the first swimwear company to engage in textile and fluid dynamics research in order to develop the fastest, lightest, smoothest and most durable products for the competitive and recreational swimmer. Now, the company is releasing a brand new swimsuit POWERSKIN Carbon-Ultra ahead of the upcoming Summer Olympics in Rio.

Research and analysis

The R&D team at arena, along with Innovia and an international scientific network, have analysed how introducing an active inner layer can maximise the effectiveness of the swimmer’s actions in the water, over the existing benefits of the POWERSKIN Carbon series.

“To support the breakthrough design, we integrated deep knowledge of the physiology and mechanics of swimming with insights into apparel development. This embraced fluid mechanics, material science, physiology and psychology,” said Andy Milton, innovation consultant at Innovia.

“As a result, we were able to provide arena with options for the design of the suit, including guidelines for fabric construction, and also advice for communicating the benefits of the technology effectively to professionals.”

POWERSKIN Carbon series

The POWERSKIN Carbon series introduced a cutting-edge carbon weave, which aims to provide intelligent compression, keeping the athlete’s body in the optimum position at all times. Carbon fibres are thinner than a human hair and intricately woven into the suits.

The result is a suit that is remarkably strong and durable, and able to compress without constricting, the company reports. These strong fibres are also designed to prevent the immense stress on the muscles that many swimmers experience while competing.

New suit

The outer shell of the new suit features an Ultra-Cage where increased carbon in the material is said to provide a strongly anisotropic response (‘stretchy’ in one direction; stiff in another) accurately conforming to an athlete’s shape, distributing pressure to streamline the body and make every movement count. In addition, the Carbon-Ultra suit incorporates a new level of support and movement management with an internal structure: the Ultra-Link System.

“The biggest difference is the internal structure which maximises the effectiveness of the swimmer’s actions in the water. The vital element in the ultimate success of the product is that athletes have complete confidence in its performance,” said Dan Ward from the Innovia design team.

Along with Innovia, the arena scientific network also includes Kinetech Labs, the University of Bologna Faculty of Exercise and Sport Sciences, and the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne.

www.innoviatech.com

www.arenawaterinstinct.com