Lycra fibre brand owner Invista has awarded Sharron Davies the Lifetime Achievement Award at the prestigious Splash Awards held to honour athletes who excel in aquatic sports and celebrate their achievements in the pool.

With a fifty year heritage in making swimming costumes feel comfortable, fit beautifully and giving exceptional support, the Lycra fibre brand has a natural alliance with the world of swimming, the company says. Michele Duncan, Marketing Manager for Invista Apparel in the UK said, “This is the second consecutive year that Invista has supported the Splash Awards as we awarded Rebecca Adlington last year with the Female Swimmer of the Year recognition. At Invista, we are proud to celebrate leading players within their field and we are therefore very pleased to bestow our award on Sharron Davies and recognize her achievements during her 20-year long competitive career and her commitment to the swimming industry beyond this period. She is a huge inspiration to swimmers of all generations and I am sure she will continue to inspire people to reach their goals in the years to come.”

Held at the Jumeriah Carlton Tower Hotel in London, the Splash Awards were created five years ago in support of the Swimming Trust and British Olympic Foundation. The event was hosted by BBC sports commentator, Clare Balding and the audience was filled with famous faces from the world of aquatic sports and entertainment including British freestyle swimmer, Joanne Jackson, the current GB Synchronised Swimming Squad, TV presenter Justin Lee Collins and Jessica Taylor, former Liberty X singer and wife of England cricket star, Kevin Pietersen.

Sharron Davies comments, “I want to thank the Splash Awards and INVISTA for this award as it not only celebrates my career but it also recognises the wealth of British talent that we have in this country.   Having moved from competing to commentating, I am in prime position to see the best of British talent within the swimming world and the emerging stars that are our future. I am looking forward to the 2012 Olympics in particular and witnessing more milestones for swimmers from our country.”

Lycra  has for many years been an important ingredient for swimwear and Invista has recently added innovations to its portfolio by launching Xtra Life Lycra fibre which helps enhance the longevity of costumes.  Swimwear is often exposed to harsh conditions such as chlorine and sun creams, lotion and oils that can reduce the life-span of the garment.

The benefits of Xtra Life Lycra fibre include, long-lasting, beautiful fit, resisting 5 to 10 times more to chlorine than standard elastane , helping prevent ‘bag and sag’ of the costume and ensuring swimwear has stretch and recovery power and fits like new for longer.

In addition, deep, richly coloured swimsuits - a fashion staple in the swimwear industry – get added benefits with the help of Black Xtra Life Lycra, which improves colourfastness in darker fabric shades, eliminates grin-through, gives the possibility to create marl/design effects in fabrics and maintains the ‘like new’ fit for longer in swimwear.