The Paris Olympics are looming on the horizon and I am excited. The Olympics bring so many spoils, one of which is normally a barrage of new tech suits released by all the major players. 2008 was the LZR Racer, 2012 saw the Carbon Pro and 2016 was perhaps the most notable with the launch of the Mizuno GX Sonic III.
For 2024, most of the big players have been pretty quiet. Speedo repainted their Tokyo Olympic suits and TYR has not released anything new. Fortunately, our saving grace is arena. That being said this suit was not created solely for the Olympics in Paris, it just so happened to coincide with them. The arena Primo is intended to be their best suit ever, a clear flagship that sits above the 3 models it succeeds and maybe it is the suit you will next purchase in your endeavour to swim fast. Today I am going to review the arena Primo and help you decide if it is worth the $450 price tag.
I have made a full review on my YouTube channel so if you want to see the suit in action as I talk through the nitty gritty, make sure you click it.
To break down exactly why the Primo is so impressive I think you need to understand the previous range of arena suits. To cater for all swimmers, arena offered the Carbon Air2 (distance), Carbon Glide (middle distance) and Carbon Core FX (sprint). The Air2 offered the most comfort but the least compression, the Core offered the most compression but the least comfort and the Glide sat somewhere in the middle. The Primo however has no compromise. It has the utmost compression and performance but with all the flexibility, range of movement and comfort of a suit like the Air2.
“That just isn’t possible” you cry…. Just because something has not been done before that does not necessarily mean it’s impossible and that is exactly why the Primo is quite literally a game changer. It is the first suit to break the age-old rule of a compressive suit simply can't be a comfy one. This was brought into reality by a new tensoelastic fabric arena pioneered with this suit called Hyperforce. Every other suit on the market has to be at 100% stretch to be at maximum compression whereas Hyperforce and the Primo can be at maximum compression at just 50% stretch. This is the reason that we have downsized to fit into the tiniest suit possible in the past and spent hours along with blood, sweat and tears putting suits on. No longer is this needed, the Primo slips on in mere minutes even on the first wear and it was the first suit I felt comfortable going up a size in from my initial order. The end result is that this suit is genuinely comfy while being the right size.
This does naturally lean to being a higher waist fit although arena says it is “adjustable”. I guess you can pull it up as high as you want but it sits optimally, not right on the belly button but high enough to lock you in.
Time to dive into the performance of the suit. I think the most obvious initial feeling with the Primo is the buoyancy. It literally lifts you up in the water. I think this is the most critical thing a tech suit can do. The higher you are in the water, the less drag there is, the less energy you use and the faster you swim. That's what the Primo enables! It also has 2 strips of thick, vertical hamstring taping that allow uptick support. As your legs kick towards, the taping builds tension and then snaps your legs back into place, ideal for when you start to get tired!
It is also extremely hydrophobic. That is nothing new and out of the box, any tech suit will allow water to pour right off it but what you will find is that quickly wears off with multiple wears. That is because before the suit is packaged it is treated with a TPU coating. To give longevity to the Primo, arena treated every yarn of the Primo individually before giving it a secondary coating. I have worn this a lot of times now as well as let overs try and I have yet to see any degradation of the water repellence!
At this point you are probably realising this suit is the complete package. While that was the original mission of arena, I must admit even I am surprised they completely delivered on it. Such a high-quality suit does demand a premium price tag of $450 but I think between its performance, longevity and design it wholeheartedly justifies it.