RONSE, BELGIUM – Textile finishing expert, Devan Chemicals, has been supporting high performance sport in the UK and Belgium with its ‘cool comfort technology’ Moov&Cool.
Worldwide, hot temperatures are a new reality that brings extra challenges for athletes. Top-notch thermoregulation technology is becoming more and more important in order for athletes to perform at their best on the pinnacle of sports.
Working alongside the English Institute for Sport (EIS) and Sally Cowan Ltd, the technology is being applied to garments with the aim of improving the thermal comfort of elite athletes.
Moov&Cool consists of a multi-functional polymer technology that proposes to absorb heat during performance and improve the moisture management properties of the fabric. The treatment has been designed to simultaneously react to sweat build up and heat emission.
Jonathan Leeder, Performance Innovation Consultant at the EIS, said: “Through our partnership with Sally Cowan Ltd, we have been really pleased to work with Devan and find out more about their Moov&Cool technology and the feedback from the sports that we work with has been positive.”
In Belgium, Devan has been involved in the Gold2Gold project carried out by Sport Vlaanderen. Gold2Gold is a unique collaboration between sports, government and the industry to prepare Belgian athletes to perform better in hot environments during world-level championships. Thermoregulating technology is increasingly becoming a key aspect of endurance performance for elite athletes. At that top level, small differences in body core temperature can make the difference between being on the podium or sometimes not even finishing the race.
“We are happy to see that our Moov&Cool technology is finally taking of in the market”, says Sven Ghyselinck, CEO of Devan. “With all the test work that has happened by the Sport Science Institutes like the Bakala Institute in Belgium and the University of Nottingham in the UK, we are happy it can now perform on the highest levels of sport. We are very satisfied that the pre-competition test results carried out by athletes in different sports disciplines speak for themselves.”
In other news, Devan has recently been acquired by Pulcra Chemicals in a move that CEO Sven Ghyselinck says is “the natural next step” in its company development.