Ian Thorpe reveals 'new job as a pool cleaner' in bizarre video
Australian swimming legend Ian Thorpe has launched a bizarre video promoting a new business venture - a premium pool cleaning business.
He won five Olympic gold medals and quit professional swimming in 2012, and now the medallist has become the new face of an Optus Small Business campaign, starring in a spoof ad that shows him as a pool cleaner.
Last Friday, Thorpe teased he would be launching his "next venture" on Twitter, along with a link to a 30-second video.
After months of keeping it on the down low, I'm excited to launch my next venture... https://t.co/Cs8pYDn2ce pic.twitter.com/Wk5rOklPoG
— Ian Thorpe (@IanThorpe) May 13, 2016
On Sunday, Optus released the full advertisement promoting "The Olympics for Small Business" where companies enter their own business to win one of four trips to the Rio 2016 Olympics.
In the ad, Thorpe introduces himself as CEO and founder of "Thorpedo Pool Cleaning" and takes viewers on a tour around his "office."
Thorpe reveals his stash of "special water" from the pool where he broke his first world record along with the drawer where he keeps his gold medals and “petty cash”.
Thorpe explains how the pool cleaning industry became a “natural progression” for him because he has a "sixth sense" after having spent so much time in the water.
“Water is a living thing. You just need to know how to listen to it,” Thorpe says in the video.
In an interview with Sunrise, Thorpe said he got involved in the campaign because he saw the similarities between somebody preparing for the Olympics or preparing for their own business.
“Optus had this campaign that was saying we have such good deals for small businesses that even our Olympians want to start their own small business to win tickets to the games,” Thorpe said.
