Blake Edwards finds the back of the water polo net by night and the best interest rates for mortgage holders by day.
It's a double life typical of many Olympic athletes in sports where funding levels don't support a full-time existence.
But it's one the 32-year-old, a self-employed mortgage broker, reckons has improved his form in the pool and lengthened his career.
Edwards, a business and commerce graduate, has played professionally in Montenegro, Brazil and Japan while he also studied at the University of Southern California.
He rolled his qualifications into a career when the world stopped for the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and quickly established an Australia-wide client base he can service remotely around his sporting commitments.
"The laptop stays open," he said, adding that his coaches were often asking for mortgage advice.
"They do give me that flexibility; I was a bit worried they may have pulled the reins in a bit.
"But they see it's important to have the balance and it allows me to play this great game longer.
"It's a shame that we've lost a lot of really, really talented players in Australia that were at the peak of their career because they didn't have the opportunity I have."
Edwards and co-captain Nathan Power, a senior consultant for accounting giant KPMG, will lead a regenerated Sharks team into a frenetic 2024 that includes a world championship in February and the Olympic Games in July-August.
The squad spent the last week in Brisbane, beating a touring Japanese team 2-1 in a three-game series.
A crowd of nearly 3000 watched Monday's shoot-out victory, the stands full of juniors competing in the Australian Youth Water Polo Championships in a neat initiative by the national governing body.
It was another tick on the Sharks' road to Paris, where they will present as long-shots against the might of Europe and the improving United States.
"We are the underdogs; no one expects Australia, really an amateur team, to ever beat a European team," Edwards, who assumed the co-captaincy with Power in 2022, said.
"I knew it was going to be a challenge for us, but I wouldn't have imagined we'd be performing at the level we are today.
"We've drawn with Greece, who were runner-up at (the most recent) Olympics and world champs, had close games with Montenegro, Italy.
"You've got to play every game and believe you can win it. We're closing the gap very quickly.
"I hope I'm around long enough to see it reach its peak."
About half of Australia's squad play overseas, including fiery Spain-based goalkeeper Nic Porter who was crucial in the series-deciding victory in Brisbane on Friday.
But the team won't have the services of former skipper and three-time Olympian Aaron Younger, who is regarded among the world's best players and commanding huge sums for Italian giant Pro Recco.
Tokyo Olympian Edwards, who described Younger's decision as an "anomaly", said there had been doubts in his mind before committing to Paris.
"There's a lot of challenges, not just for me but every Australian player," he said.
"The financial support is pretty minimal and it creates disadvantages for recovery and training times, but the guys are progressing in their lives outside as well.
"Sometimes I do question it, but the opportunity to represent the country and be captain ... if I'd knocked that back, I'd regret it later on."
