Roka and IRONMAN expand relationship

IRONMAN, a Wanda Sports Holdings company, announced today a multi-year global partnership that expands its relationship with ROKA, the Austin-based performance multisport brand. This new partnership makes ROKA the Official Global Wetsuit and Swim Partner of IRONMAN and the IRONMAN World Championship and IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship events.

The partnership between IRONMAN and ROKA will further a relationship that began in 2014. Besides an expanded physical presence at IRONMAN events across the globe, ROKA and IRONMAN are collaborating on IRONMAN World Championship swim products this October in honor of IRONMANs 40th Anniversary. Additionally, ROKA will now sell co-branded swim products online via www.ironmanstore.com and roka.com, and will continue to give out the ROKA Fastest Swimmer Award to congratulate the fastest age group athlete during each events swim.

"Were thrilled to expand our partnership with IRONMAN," said ROKA CEO and Co-Founder Rob Canales. "IRONMAN is the best in the world at providing the ultimate endurance race experience, and ROKA is the best in the world at supporting those athletes with technical products that meet the demands of the day. Were excited to collaborate with IRONMAN on new products and services and to immediately bring our existing ones to more athletes around the world."

In the last six years, ROKA has designed the worlds most advanced high-performance wetsuits, goggles, eyewear, swimskins and race apparel, which have been worn to numerous world titles and over 50 IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 wins by the worlds best triathletes, including Javier Gmez Noya, Lucy Charles, Tim Reed, Melissa Hauschildt, Luke McKenzie, Meredith Kessler, Linsey Corbin, Jesse Thomas and more. With this new partnership, IRONMAN athletes will be able to sample ROKAs groundbreaking technology before they buy at each IRONMAN event in the IRONMAN Village and have exclusive access to new products during the lead up to their races.

"I first tried ROKAs Maverick wetsuit and Viper swimskin in 2014 and have been using both ever since, however the products have at times been difficult to find outside the U.S." said Javier Gmez Noya, two-time IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion who splits time between Spain and New Zealand. "With this expanded partnership, IRONMAN athletes from around the globe can now get their hands on the cutting-edge technology that has been my secret weapon for the past four years."

Just six years from its humble beginnings in a garage in Austin, ROKA has grown to become the wetsuit and swimwear choice of countless triathletes and hundreds of multisport teams around the world, and its Viper swimskin has been trusted by more athletes at the IRONMAN World Championships than any other brand for multiple years running.

"ROKA embodies the spirit of innovation and ingenuity that aligns well with the needs of our athletes," said Matthieu Van Veen Chief Revenue Officer for IRONMAN. "We are eager to expand this partnership to cover all of our events globally and bring ROKAs swimwear products to our athletes around the world."

In 2018, ROKA will have a presence across the IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 Series, including 40 races in North America, 32 in Europe, and 13 in Oceania, as well as the IRONMAN World Championship and IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. Each IRONMAN race consists of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run while the IRONMAN 70.3 race series events consist of a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run.

For more information on the IRONMAN brand and global event series, visit www.ironman.com.

Find out more about ROKA at roka.com.

- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Triathlon New Zealand