When the Australian men's water polo team competed at the Rio Olympics there were not just athletes in the pool, but a managing director as well.
For three years Olympian Tyler Martin, 26, has been juggling the demands of elite water polo with running his own business, making customised swimwear for teams, clubs, schools and universities.
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There is a growing focus in high-level sport on preparing players and athletes for life after competition. Numerous bodies, including the AFL, NRL and the Australian Institute of Sport, offer guidance on education, career planning and employment preparation.
While many pursue careers in coaching, fitness or the media, it's becoming easier for sportspeople to turn entrepreneur, using their drive, competitiveness and networks to succeed in business.Â
"You're only one injury away from never playing again," Martin said. "Touch wood it never [happens], but that's the reality of sport."
Martin said water polo players did not earn professional wages so had "to get educated and find a way to survive. It forces you to go out, get a degree, get an apprenticeship, get a diploma ... have a few options and gear yourself for a post-sport career."
Martin was playing water polo in Italy when he met an American running a swimwear business. Recognising the demand for customised swimwear, he launched Delfina Sport in 2013, using feedback from other watersports competitors on styles, fit and fabrics. Several overseas-based water polo players have joined the company and help handle international sales.
"In sport you develop quite a few characteristics that translate into the business world - things like discipline and goal setting," Martin said. Teamwork, perseverance, adaptability and performing under pressure also come naturally to many sportspeople, giving them an advantage in the business world.
Martin completed his Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing this year and recently attended a bootcamp run by start-up generator Investible, fine-tuning aspects of his business and getting valuable mentorship. Â
Investible co-founder Trevor Folsom said he had worked with athletes before and Investible was looking to develop a program to help them "find their purpose and passion in life".
"Their ability to focus and plan and be precise in every little area in their pursuit of success on the sporting field certainly translates well to business and, for some of them, in the entrepreneurial world," he said. "They're always looking for that one per cent difference, looking for that little thing that can give them the edge."
Mr Folsom said the power of social networks and the strength of their brand were other elements that worked in the modern athlete's favour.
"They are gifted opportunities to meet amazing people all around the world," he said. "If they can learn how to manage that and build on that network, when they are ready to make a change it can certainly give them a kickstart in a business venture or help them connect with a chosen career path."
Brandon Lowery was on track to become an elite soccer player in the US when he broke his leg skateboarding, and "decided to channel my competitive nature into business".
A keen skateboarder, snowboarder and skier, he founded The Action Sports Agency to helps sportspeople build their own brand and start-ups
"I look at business like a sport," he said. "It's competitive in nature, there's winning, there's losing, there's team dynamics, there's a strong demand for self-efficacy and discipline and communication and patience and practice."
Mr Lowery said "athletes do make good business people", thanks to their training and dispositions. "To be able to transfer that focus, that energy, that discipline into business gives athletes, in general, a leg up."
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