By David Gold

Kate with_Oars_Crewroom_March_1March 7 - Specialist sportswear brand Crewroom have told insidethegames that they plan to continue their sponsorship of the London Youth Games when the current deal expires.


Last year, a three-year sponsorship was announced with the annual youth sports event (a 2011 event pictured below), which brings together teams made up of 11-18 year olds from all 33 London Boroughs.

Founder Kate Giles (pictured) told insidethegames: "We'll probably look to renew it again next year – it's a really good fit us being in London and we really like working with them."

Giles explained the reasoning behind their support for the Games.

"There are a huge amount of volunteers in the London Youth Games so that's a really good fit for us.

"It's not so much about the publicity, it's something that's important to our business.

"We want to help them out with rewarding their volunteers.

"[We just want to do] something that can change someone who is maybe a bit quiet and give them something.

"Sport can change people – it's not always about the Olympics!"


Kate with_Van-197
Giles also revealed that Crewroom hopes to extend its partnership with the annual XChanging Cambridge v Oxford boat race (pictured below from 2011), having signed a deal to become their official supplier last October.

"They seem to be really happy," said Giles, who added that they hoped to sign a longer term deal as a supplier.

Crewroom are also set to announce that their niche clothing range will be entering new retailers at The Triathlon Show, which begins on Friday at Sandown Park.

They are launching the Vapour-X Bodyshell, a garment made from recycled nylon and bamboo charcoal that regulates body temperature, protecting the user from the elements.

The company are moving towards the cycling and running markets, having been a long term supplier for the British rowing team, a partnership which dates back to 2000.

Crewroom, who also have a partnership with GB Canoeing, have supplied Britain's rowers with their kit for the last two Olympic Games, and have recently measured up the current squad ahead of London 2012.

XChanging Cambridge_v_Oxford_1_March_

The rowers are among the favourites for gold in London this summer, and it is one of the sports in which Britain expects to perform best having dominated last year's World Championships, securing a record 14 medals.

"It's got stronger and stronger," Giles, a former rower herself, said of the relationship Crewroom enjoy with GB Rowing, adding that clothes in their range have "been specifically made with the athlete in mind".

"What makes the British climate quite severe is constant wind so the whole thing is built around looking after GB rowers.

"You don't want an athlete out for four weeks because they've had 'flu'."

Giles knows all too well the perils of not using the right clothing for training, as she caught pneumonia years ago when out on a run, which she attributes to not wearing the right kit – an experience which inspired her to start up Crewroom.

"It's a passion," she says of the brand, clothing and company she has created.

"I want to see every single one of the [GB rowers] get a medal [at London 2012] and hopefully the right one!"

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
April 2011: Crewroom announce London Youth Games sponsorship