 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Sports Apparel |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Headquarters | Auckland, New Zealand |
Key people | Scott Unsworth, Founder, CEO |
| Products | Wetsuits, Triathlon apparel, Cycling gear, General sports apparel |
Number of employees | 25 staff |
| Website | orca.com |
Orca is a New Zealand company that makes wetsuits and sports apparel, primarily for triathletes.
The company was founded in Auckland in 1994 by Scott Unsworth, [1] a former New Zealand age group triathlon champion. He decided to start manufacturing wetsuits after discovering that traditional wetsuits were not suitable for swimming. In Auckland Unsworth founded a company called Performance Speedsuits Ltd., [2] that manufactured swimming-friendly speed suits, and these speed suits gained much popularity. It was eventually renamed "Orca".
In 2008 the company agreed a global distribution deal with Spanish cycling giant Orbea. [3]
Orca specialises in high range wetsuits, with most wetsuits starting at around $250 up to $700 [4] with many of its products available worldwide. The company is recognised as a leader in introducing new technologies into triathlon. The Orca Apex 2 wetsuit uses AirLite - a world first neoprene technology. There are tiny air pockets trapped in the neoprene to provide increased buoyancy. The Orca 3.8 was the first wetsuit to feature an AirRelease panel. This is the world's first breathable neoprene, allowing heat and moisture to be transferred away from the wearer, while remaining water resistant. The all-purpose Sonar remains Orca's best selling triathlon wetsuit.
Orca sponsors a number of leading triathletes, including 2x 70.3 World Champion Sebastian Kienle, recently retired Olympic champion Hamish Carter, ITU athletes including Kris Gemmell, Courtney Atkinson, Tim Don and Debbie Tanner, and Ironman competitors including Craig Alexander and Cameron Brown. Orca also sponsors a number of national bodies including Triathlon New Zealand, Bike NZ, and the British Triathlon Federation.
In 2004 Orca was the official apparel supplier to the New Zealand Olympic team.
A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the disciplines included. The word is of Greek origin, from τρεῖς or treis (three) and ἆθλος or athlos (competition).
A wetsuit is a garment worn to provide thermal protection while wet. It is usually made of foamed neoprene, and is worn by surfers, divers, windsurfers, canoeists, and others engaged in water sports and other activities in or on water. Its purpose is to provide thermal insulation and protection from abrasion, ultraviolet exposure, and stings from marine organisms. It also contributes extra buoyancy. The insulation properties of neoprene foam depend mainly on bubbles of gas enclosed within the material, which reduce its ability to conduct heat. The bubbles also give the wetsuit a low density, providing buoyancy in water.
Neoprene is a family of synthetic rubbers that are produced by polymerization of chloroprene. Neoprene exhibits good chemical stability and maintains flexibility over a wide temperature range. Neoprene is sold either as solid rubber or in latex form and is used in a wide variety of commercial applications, such as laptop sleeves, orthopaedic braces, electrical insulation, liquid and sheet-applied elastomeric membranes or flashings, and automotive fan belts.
A diving suit is a garment or device designed to protect a diver from the underwater environment. A diving suit may also incorporate a breathing gas supply. but in most cases applies only to the environmental protective covering worn by the diver. The breathing gas supply is usually referred to separately. There is no generic term for the combination of suit and breathing apparatus alone. It is generally referred to as diving equipment or dive gear along with any other equipment necessary for the dive.
Sheico Group is an OEM supplier of many types of watersports apparel. The company's head office is located in Taiwan and its manufacturing facilities are in Taiwan, Mainland China, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia.
Hamish Clive Carter is a New Zealand triathlete. He won the gold medal in triathlon at the 2004 Summer Olympics, his second Olympic games. Carter also competed on the International Triathlon Union World Cup circuit as a professional for many years, culminating in a silver medal in 2006 before announcing his retirement early in 2007. During his career he won twelve ITU world cup races.
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Dan Empfield is an American entrepreneur in the world of multisport, manufacturer of the triathlon wetsuit in 1987, and the triathlon-specific racing bike in 1989. The original designs were manufactured by the Quintana Roo, which he founded in 1987.
Open water swimming is a swimming discipline which takes place in outdoor bodies of water such as open oceans, lakes, and rivers.
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The Hy-Vee Triathlon was an Olympic-distance triathlon race held in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. From 2011–2014, the race served as the World Triathlon Corporation's 5150 Series U.S. Championships. Previously, it was part of the ITU Triathlon World Cup series from 2008 to 2010. The annual triathlon event attracted many of the top professional triathletes in the world due, in part, to having the largest prize purse awarded for Olympic-distance races in the sport. In addition to professional triathletes, the triathlon event features competition among amateur athletes as well.
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Nicky Samuels is a New Zealand professional triathlete who has won the 2013 XTERRA Triathlon World Championship and the 2012 ITU Aquathlon World Championships. She is also the 2012 New Zealand cycling road race national champion. She represented—alongside Andrea Hewitt—New Zealand at the 2016 Summer Olympics in triathlon and came 13th.
Debbie Tanner is a triathlete from New Zealand, who placed fourth at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, and competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
2XU Pty. Ltd. is an Australian/New Zealand multinational corporation engaged in the design, development and selling of sportswear, mostly compression garment for sports such as triathlon, cycling, running, open water swimming, and physical fitness. Founded in 2005 by Clyde Davenport, Jamie Hunt and Aidan Clarke, the company is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria.
Descente Ltd. is a Japanese sports clothing and accessories company, first formed in 1935, when Takeo Ishimoto started the company in Osaka as Ishimoto Shoten. The company logo depicts 3 basic skiing techniques - traverse, schuss and side-slip. Descente owns a portfolio of 16 in-house, purchased and licensed brands, among them Descente, Shiseist, Arena, Marmot and Srixon.
Kiwami (Triathlon) is a French company that designs and manufactures triathlon apparel. The company is headquartered near Pau, France. It was founded in 2003 by two professional triathletes, one from France, Hélène Salomon and one from New Zealand, Craig Watson. The company takes its name from "kiwi", the symbol of New Zealand and "ami" that means "friend" in French. The logo features a kiwi bird wearing a French beret. Kiwami sponsors many high-profile triathletes and triathlon teams around the world, following the motto: "feel the performance". Besides triathlon products, Kiwami also develop other products such as swimwear, triathlon accessories, casual wear and cycling wear.