We Noticed: Lionel Sanders Signs With Roka
Photo: Talbot Cox/ Lionel Sanders Instagram
Canadian star Lionel Sanders has partnered with ROKA (performance eyewear) and ROKA Multisport (technical gear and apparel). The announcement comes a day before Sanders will go after a fifth win at the IRONMAN 70.3 North American Championship in St. George.
Sanders has won more than 30 IRONMAN and 70.3 races during his career, and has what is arguably the sports biggest YouTube presence (along with videographer Talbot Cox).
“I’m excited to partner with ROKA and ROKA Multisport — both brands share my relentless drive to push boundaries,” Sanders said in today’s release. “The cutting-edge wetsuits and swimskins give me the confidence and speed to chase every second in the water. With ROKA, there are no limits.”
Sanders has been using ROKA eyewear for more than a year, but now adds ROKA Multisport’s “performance products, including wetsuits, swim skins, and goggles.”
“We have admired Lionel for many years,” said ROKA co-founder Kurt Spenser. “Witnessing his evolution and success at the highest levels of the sport is a testament to his commitment, resilience and belief that there are no limits. We share those values deeply at ROKA and are incredibly honored to welcome him to the team, representing one of the most driven and charismatic ambassadors in the sport.”
According to today’s release, Sanders will also “play an active role in field-testing and shaping ROKA’s next generation of eyewear.”
Sanders started the 2025 season off with a bang thanks to a big win at IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside. He was then supposed to race at IRONMAN Texas, but ended up having to pull out of that race after getting sick after the race in California. He arrives in St. George as one of the pre-race favorites, but will be taking on a stacked field.
Another Big Name in the Mix?
There’s nothing official from ROKA, but those on the ground in St. George are reporting that they have seen Sam Long, the two-time defending St. George champion, in ROKA gear. We’ll provide more details as they become available.
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Lionel SandersROKAROKA MultisportSponsorshipNotable Replies
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Imagine if he ever came out of the water with the front pack in a wetsuit legal swim
ROKA would sell out of wetsuits within an hour
Happy for him
Any guesses what he receives for a sponsorship like that?
I think it’s great that Roka would join forces with Lionel (and possibly?) Sam Long even though they aren’t front pack swimmers. Most age group athletes except those top swimmers can identify with being farther back coming out of the water. Now, if only I could squeeze into the Roka suit I bought a few years ago. I bought it according to my accurate measurements, and never got it any farther up the front of my legs.
Roka should do what Skipper did - give him a cool million bonus if he comes out of the water first at Kona and make a lot of noise about it on social.
Its basically writing and insanely out of the money option so free publicity stunt.
Lionel could pay each of the 50 other pros $10k to let him win the swim and pocket the other $500k.
Good luck to Lionel when his nearly brand new Roka wetsuit comes apart at the seams like mine did. Worst made brand of wetsuits in the sport. He should have stuck with BlueSeventy.
I take it this means he’s no longer with FORM (he was wearing their goggles as of his last swim video 2wks ago). That seemed like a great fit, given his oft stated desire to work on his swim…and the many AOS age groupers in a similar boat. Roka’s brand always seemed to be about the highly proficient, first out of the water (like LCB).
Lucy Charles . . . the most followed female in the sport. Lionsel Sanders . . . the most followed male in the sport.
Form is a smart goggle, Roka does not make smart goggles. Not a competing category in sponsorship.
"… now adds ROKA Multisport’s “performance products, including wetsuits, swim skins, and goggles.”
I would say both fall into the goggles category, but perhaps his sponsorship is for race day goggles, and he’s still allowed to use FORM in training? He hasn’t historically used the FORM goggles in races.
If we do this NASCAR segments out sponsorships…he would only wear ROKA in races.
I’ve had a Roka wetsuit since 2017 and have had no problems.
I have 3 ROKA wetsuits all 2 years old or older
One with approx 30 chlorinated pool swims plus another 20 open water swims
It is 3 years old. No split seams yet
Maybe it’s the latest version with the seam problems?
I’ll disagree. I have 2 Roka Maverick wetsuits that are well built, have survived multiple pool and countless open water swims, and have almost no nicks or damage after nearly 4 years of use. I have zero complaints with it and I’d easily recommend it to anyone. (I have both a small and a medium-small, it’s nice they have those in-between sizes. They both work with me, I choose depending on whether I plan on being as fast as possible for which I’ll choose the small which is decently challenging for me to put on and remove, or more comfy and easier time getting off when I choose med-small.)
The one wetsuit I will say to avoid from experience is the cheap $99 green Xterra wetsuit. Get a used one before this one. It’ll actually work fine, but it gets nicks and tears so easily that after 3 swims it looked like I abused it, even though I was maximum careful. (It gets tears when it is stretched, even.) I’ve had two of these, the 2nd one I knew would be a problem but I wanted a small-size for a one-use swim, and turned out I liked small enough I bought the Roka small right after.
I also have a sleeved and sleeveless in 2XL and have had no issues with either. That’s with them taking a lot of abuse in being stretched over my very tall very fat ass. Their seems should have burst many times but they keep holding strong.
They have a 2 year warranty for the seams