AUSTIN: IRONMAN, one of the most famous events in the world for athletes in endurance sports, announced on Friday a multi-year global partnership that expands its relationship with ROKA, the Austin-based performance multisport brand.
As a result, ROKA will be the Official Global Wetsuit and Swim Partner of IRONMAN and all its World Championship events.
The two companies have been associated with each since 2014 and ROKA’s name has been visible tremendously during IRONMAN events. ROKA will also collaborate on IRONMAN World Championship swim products this October to celebrate the competition’s 40thanniversary. 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 event’s swim.
“We’re 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. We’re excited to collaborate with IRONMAN on new products and services and to immediately bring our existing ones to more athletes around the world.”
ROKA’s apparel from high-performance wetsuits to racing clothes have been worn by the world’s best triathletes in the past such as Javier Gómez Noya, Lucy Charles, Tim Reed, Melissa Hauschildt, Luke McKenzie, Meredith Kessler, Linsey Corbin, Jesse Thomas and more.
Through this partnership, athletes will be able to sample ROKA’s groundbreaking technology before purchasing its products at each IRONMAN event in the games village and have exclusive access to new products during the lead up to their races.
“I first tried ROKA’s 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 Gómez 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.”
ROKA’s rise has been massive considering that it has been just six years in the business for the company.
“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 ROKA’s swimwear products to our athletes around the world.”
