Australia's men's water polo team are "weaponising" their world championships disappointment to propel them into the Paris Olympics as hungry contenders.
The Sharks have never stood on the podium at the Olympics and their best result, fifth place, came more than three decades ago at the Barcelona Games in 1992.
And the Australians were condemned to 11th place at this year's world championships in Doha after losing five of their six matches in February.
But Sharks co-captain Nathan Power is choosing to embrace their disappointment, believing their misfortune can put them in good stead come July.
"It's one of those things you've got to go through and feel the mistakes, feel what it's like to be in a high-pressure moment," Power told AAP.
"Maybe you don't succeed, but from those moments, that's where you can learn, grow, develop and channel that forward.
"Having experienced that as a group before, the onus that we have to take upon ourselves is to learn from that and build forward.
"Provided we do that, it can be translated into hopefully what will be some good results for us over in Paris."
If anything, co-captain Blake Edwards takes their Doha results with a grain of salt.
"There's really not much difference between first and eighth or ninth place," Edwards told AAP.
"If you look at the previous world championships results in only August last year, you have Hungary win and then finish in eighth place in Doha this year.
"On the contrary, you've got Croatia who finished ninth last year and then win the world championships this year.
"Looking forward, we won't pay too much attention to our results in Doha from a confidence perspective."
Australia has often fallen victim to the might of Europe in the pool.
While the sport's heavyweights such as Croatia and Spain boast domestic professional leagues, the Sharks lead double lives - something Power is confident can give the Sharks an edge at the Olympics.
The Newcastle product works full-time as a senior consultant for accounting giant KPMG, while Edwards is a self-employed mortgage broker.
"In Australia, it's an amateur sport. We'll go play and train every morning and night, and then a few of us have got full-time jobs," Power said.
"We're straight away at our jobs, often smelling like chlorine and putting off our co-workers.
"It's special to see a group of guys so determined about not just getting to the pool but also embedding themselves in life.
"It's definitely something that's pretty unique for us compared to our competitors over there."
Between finding the back of the net on the world stage and the best interest rates for mortgage holders, Edwards will be spending time changing nappies after the arrival of his first child, Jude.
"I'm already just completely smitten over little Jude," Edwards said.
"You have a tough training night or a typical game and then coming home, he's only two weeks old and you get into cuddles and you just forget anything that's bothering you.
"He's been an absolute blessing. I'm really excited to be able to go over and represent the country at the Olympic Games with the little fella and his mother watching in the stands."
