The Cost of Becoming a Pro Swimmer

Matt Richards is a double Olympic Champion and silver medallist in the pool, winning a historic back to back relay title and falling agonisingly short of individual gold in the 200m freestyle (2 hundredths of a second to be precise). And that won’t be the end of it; LA28 is firmly in his sights.

At the age of 23, he has achieved more than most will in their whole career. You would think as an Olympic gold medallist, the world opens up to, and in some ways it does. But as he describes, these are athletes surviving on tiny salaries, reliant on sponsorship and external funding, all competing for the same dollars. So Matt decided to do something about it. He’s now not only an elite swimmer, but also a business owner looking to empower more athletes with the control over their revenue generating opportunities. I have put a link below to check out the platform. A special guy with a huge amount still to come. We loved this and I hope you do too. We’re delighted to welcome Matt to the Business of Sport.

Olympic Gold & The Reality Behind It:

• Winning gold in Tokyo at 18 and why it did not feel how he expected.

• The brutal 0.02 second Olympic silver in Paris and how he reset overnight.

• What actually changes after you become Olympic champion and how fast the buzz fades.

The Money Behind Olympic Sport:

• £28,000 lottery funding and what swimmers really earn.

• Why most Team GB athletes make nothing outside sponsorship.

• The three month Olympic window to monetize success without harming performance.

Building a Business While Chasing Gold:

• Launching Sponsor while competing at the highest level.

• Why athletes must see themselves as marketing assets.

• Balancing brand building, training, and the risk of distraction.

Pressure, Process & The LA 2028 Target:

• Calling himself Olympic champion at eight years old.

• The Olympic Village chaos, illness, and racing through adversity.

• Turning silver into fuel as he targets individual gold in LA.

A huge thank you to our amazing partners on the show: 

Gemini Sports

We empower the most confident sports organisations on Earth https://geminisports.ai/

Slate

The complete content creation platform for social teams https://slateteams.com/

Seat Unique

Discover your next premium experience  https://wgl.io/s10it7

AND check out Sponza, Matt’s business to revolutionise sponsorship for athletes & brands https://sponza.co.uk/