A sports drink to energize athletes had humble beginnings in a college student’s kitchen.

When Richard Smith was a senior at Cal Poly in 2006, he had a plan. After graduating with a degree in exercise science, he’d go to grad school to become a physical therapist. Meanwhile, he coached and trained on the side.

His curiosity about sports drinks took a turn for the real on the kitchen table his senior year, when a professor encouraged him to try making his own. He mixed the essential components – carbohydrates, electrolytes, sometimes protein and, in those early days, Kool-Aid – and created something that would do more than hydrate. These drink blends were designed to energize and enhance athletic performance.

By now, performance-enhancing sports drinks are commonplace, but in 2006 they were not. Smith saw a gaping hole in the marketplace, and Fluid was born. He never went to physical therapy school, but succeeded at helping athletes in another way: Dialing in drink powders meant to replenish what you lose through sweating, and also to give power to endurance athletes who need sustained energy.

Since 2016, Fluid has been the hydration sponsor of the Sea Otter Classic, and returns this year with its Performance drink, a faint purple color flavored with blueberry and pomegranate extract. “It tastes very refreshing because of the low sugar content – it’s not sickeningly sweet,” Smith says. There are other Fluid options, as well. “Depending on what you put in, it will have a different effect.”

Fluid samples are available at the Life Time Sea Otter Classic from Thursday-Sunday, April 18-21. More information at livefluid.com.