New Balance Minimus 20v5 Trainer Official Shoe of National Rowing Team

I just received this press release from USRowing about a multi-year sponsorship deal with New Balance, which will include providing footwear to athletes including the “Official Training Shoe of the USRowing National Team.”

"As a result, the New Balance men’s and women’s Minimus 20v5 Trainer was identified as the best-performing, land rowing and training shoe available and appropriately designated as the “Official Training Shoe of the USRowing National Team."

BOSTON, Mass. – USRowing is proud to announce a multi-year sponsorship deal with New Balance, which will include providing footwear to athletes including the “Official Training Shoe of the USRowing National Team.”
 
“New Balance has demonstrated a commitment to excellence in sports and shares our long-term vision for stronger performance through innovation,” saidBeth Kohl, USRowing Chief Marketing officer. “As a sponsor of the Head of the Charles Regatta, New Balance has begun a relationship with the rowing community and we look forward to expanding this association. We are constantly looking for ways to elevate rowing to new heights and see this partnership as integral to that journey."

USRowing and New Balance formed an organic relationship earlier this year through seeding New Balance footwear to U.S. National Team athletes. New Balance visited the team and conducted focus groups with the athletes to gain first-hand knowledge of what they were looking for in a training shoe.

As a result, the New Balance men’s and women’s Minimus 20v5 Trainer was identified as the best-performing, land rowing and training shoe available and appropriately designated as the “Official Training Shoe of the USRowing National Team.
 
The exclusive style for the U.S. National Team rowers will feature a red, white and blue scheme, as well as the official U.S. National Team crest on the external heel and within the heel of the foot bed. Engineered to compliment the natural movement of the foot and body during a workout, the MX/WX20v5 Training Shoe offers barefoot-inspired performance to a gym or circuit workout, while still providing the protection and durability athletes need when training for their sport. The style is the ideal training shoe for rowers for erging, which is at the core of the training program, as well as the static driven workouts inherent to the sport.
 
“The USRowing sponsorship is intended to embolden our brand efforts for our performance training business,” said Ray Hilvert, Vice President, New Balance Field of Play. “Our work and collaboration with world class partners, such as USRowing, is inherent to New Balance culture and our commitment to providing innovative and premium products and experiences that support today’s performance athletes.”
 
"Our U.S. National Team is proud to collaborate with New Balance, a brand which shares our values- high performance, integrity and achievement,” said Luke McGee, U.S. Men's team coach. "The feedback from our athletes is that this shoe allows them to maximize their results on the ergometer and in the weight room to ensure maximum performance as we look forward to Rio 2016.”
 
Information regarding the public offering of the USRowing Minimus 20v5 Trainer will be available later this year.

Dan Walsh, Gevvie Stone, Jenny Sichel, Josh Konieczny, Elliott Hovey, Andrew Campbell and Beth Kohl at the USRowing/New Balance sponsorship announcement.

About USRowing: USRowing is a nonprofit organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the governing body for the sport of rowing in the United States. USRowing has 75,000 individual members and 1,200 member organizations, offering rowing programs for all. USRowing’s official suppliers include Concept 2, Croker Oars, JanSport, Nielsen Kellerman, Vespoli and WinTech. USRowing also receives generous support from the National Rowing Foundation and its corporate sponsors and partners: ANXeBusiness Corp, Boathouse Sports, Bucket List Events, Connect-A-Dock, EMCVenues, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Rudy Project and Shimano. USRowing relies on strong partnerships to enable continued success. America Rows, which supports diversity in rowing and provides opportunities for those with disabilities, also benefits from corporate support.

About New Balance: New Balance, headquartered in Boston, MA has the following mission: Demonstrating responsible leadership, we build global brands that athletes are proud to wear, associates are proud to create and communities are proud to host. New Balance is the only major company to make or assemble more than 4 million pairs of athletic footwear per year in the USA, which represents a limited portion of our US sales. Where the domestic value is at least 70%, we label our shoes Made in the USA. New Balance owns five factories in New England and one in Flimby, U.K. New Balance employs more than 5,000 associates around the globe, and in 2014 reported worldwide sales of $3.3 billion. To learn more about New Balance, please visit www.newbalance.com.