It's Olympic Year and every suit-maker worth their salt will want to reveal that they have made what it takes to win gold ... Arena is first off the blocks with news of news to come - no details as yet but the countdown has begun.

A member of Arena's Research and Development Department says: 'We are convinced that we are on the verge of a technological breakthrough that could really change the way we swim. We are aware that innovating from a starting-point like the highly successful Powerskin swimsuit is a truly arduous task, but that?s precisely why we are strongly attracted to the challenge. In developing this product we started off from Powerskin's points of strength and the characteristics that swimmers themselves have suggested as their 'wish-list' in order to obtain a perfect balance of performance and wearability. The whole development process was set up around the athletes who, more than ever before, we wanted to get involved in the tests right from the outset. Their profound knowledge of movement in water and what is needed to facilitate and follow through that movement is leading us to ever more useful results.'

A prototype for the new suit - the name of which is yet to be revealed - is ready, having been put to the test by a group of world-class swimmers sworn to secrecy - up to a point. 'Wearing the new suit gives a really pleasant sensation and it's like having second skin. I get the feeling that it helps the body slide through the water, much more than any other swimsuit I've tried up to now,' says Massimiliano Rosolino, 2000 Olympic 200m medley champion.

The suit will be worn for the first time in racing at the European Championships in Eindhoven, from March 24. Arena, founded in 1973 as a spin-off from Adidas. From Mark Spitz and Shane Gould back then, through Matt Biondi, Alex Popov and Franziska Van Almsick, Arena's current stable includes Filippo Magnini, Massimiliano Rosolino, Roland Schoemann, Ryk Neethling, Lazlo Cseh and Laure Manadou.