LORENZO Clark is a man you just can’t imagine being out of his depth.

He was an international swimmer and water polo player for Wales, playing over 100 times for his country.

Lorenzo says the pinnacle of his career was representing Wales in the Commonwealth Games in Manchester almost 10 years ago.

He began his swimming career in Leeds where he competed for City of Leeds Swimming Club. And by the age of 11 he was winning Welsh national titles for his age at backstroke.

“Swimming is one of the toughest sports.”

His regime involved getting up at 5am to swim and then heading for the pool seven nights a week to put in the mileage.

“It is an isolated, solo sport where you are ploughing up and down. I used to sing the top 40 singles in my head.”

By the time he was in his teens, Lorenzo’s powerful swimming technique gave him a route into water polo and at 17 he was playing for Wales.

As well as being a big presence in the world of water polo, Lorenzo dived into a business career which has become an equally powerful success story.

Today he works for Sheffield International Venues, is responsible for 1,200 staff, has 16 managers reporting to him and runs an operation with a multi-million pound turnover.

Next week, he plunges into the world of amateur dramatics. And he’s found it quite a challenge.

Lorenzo lives in Almondbury and makes his Pierrot Players debut on Wednesday in the company’s new production of Busybody.

It’s a classic Jack Popplewell comedy which should have audiences at Shelley Village Hall laughing all week.

Performances are at 7.30pm each evening until Saturday.

Lorenzo plays one of a pair of policeman caught up in the action.

“Having been some sort of actor at school and narrated Milton in Paradise Lost, I sort of got lost to dramatics and took up sport,” he said.

“I guess I was surprised to actually be offered the part of Pc Goddard in this play and as I’m always up for a challenge, I decided to give it a whirl.

“I mean how hard can it be after running three London marathons!”

But that tongue-in-cheek attitude is followed swiftly by a dose of reality.

“Well, I tell you learning lines is not easy and I need all the help I can get to pull this one off.”

He says he is getting plenty of that help and support at Pierrot Players where he has been welcomed into the team.

But for a man with Lorenzo’s business commitments, it’s been a delicate balancing act between work and his new found hobby.

“I’ve found it thoroughly enjoyable,” he said.

“It’s been quite a change for somebody else to me making the decisions.”