THORZT’s new business development manager (BDM) will use his experience and knowledge gained as a professional rugby league player, world champion kayaker and exercise physiologist to drive hydration in workplaces.
A former Sydney Roosters player and kayaker for both the Australian and US world teams, Luke Michael compared the hydration needs of athletes to those of physically active workers in hot conditions.
“For a couple of years, I had no life! I was paddling every morning, at footy training every arvo and on top of that, still trying to be at uni,” he said.
“Living and breathing as an athlete, you have to be rehydrated and refueled each day for training.”
“That’s what these workers are doing day in and day out—recovering, backing up and doing it all again the next day.”
Michael noted that understanding hydration was an important factor in exercise, training and life throughout his sporting career, which included many notable wins.
From a young age, he was involved at his local surf lifesaving club in North Bondi and played for the Sydney Roosters.
After the 2005 rugby season, when the Roosters won the premiership, Michael was forced to choose between footy and the kayaking which he had taken up as part of surf lifesaving.
“To be the best, I had to choose one eventually and it ended up being kayaking,” he said.
From there, he won every kayaking world championship from 2005 to 2011, paddling with the Australia team until 2009 and then with the US team, taking advantage of his dual citizenship.
He then trained in the hopes of competing in the London Olympics, but missed out on selection by 0.2 of a second.
“I didn’t end up going to the Olympics, which was the ultimate dream. After missing out on Beijing as well, I came back home to Australia and got stuck into work and everyday life,” he said.
“I’m still involved in the North Bondi Surf Club though and I love the surf lifesaving races, so I keep doing that.”
“But the dream of my life now is to help workers to understand dehydration in the workplace better and improve training, work and recovery.”
Michael believes that THORZT has the opportunity to expand into more industries where hydration is critical.
“In terms of what THORZT does and how it can help workers, there’s no stopping us.”
“Hopefully we can get into every market possible. Not only the industrial workforce, but also places like hospitals, where hydration is also important.”
“I’ll also be using my exercise physiology training to help with that and supporting the guys on the road with the products,” he said, adding that he would be the go-to man for all questions regarding THORZT.
With both his sporting background and his scientific understanding of dehydration, Michael appears to be the perfect man for the job and David Rhodes, THORZT’s Australasian Category Manager definitely thinks this is the case.
“We’ve been looking for the right person for a while and when we sat down to talk to Luke, we couldn’t be happier,” he said.
“We see his addition to the team as part of the launching pad for THORZT becoming the number one hydration solution, not only for the industrial workforce, but also in the mainstream.”
