Different crew: Olympic medalist now wealth manager for Merrill

Being an Olympic rower and a financial adviser have seemingly little in common, but tenacity and the drive to continue are key ingredients to the success of both. Just ask Ted Murphy, a wealth management adviser and vice president at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, who was a silver-medalist rower at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. A young prodigy at crew, he fell into the sport during his freshman year at Dartmouth College in 1990. From there, it was an meteoric rise to the top. In less than three years, Mr. Murphy made the national team and went to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. His crew came in fifth place in the eight-man rowing event. “We would've had the race of our lives to get a gold, but we didn't have the best start on the final day,” he said. Mr. Murphy took a break from rowing, spending time on his career. He worked at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. building custody relationships with institutional clients until 1998 before the crew bug bit him again and pushed him to train for the 2000 games. “It comes back to that feeling of unfinished business, the belief that I have more to accomplish and that I'm better than that fifth-place finish at Atlanta,” Mr. Murphy said. Indeed, getting back to rowing proved even more difficult. Not only did Mr. Murphy have to make up lost ground from his time off, but even after qualifying for the Olympics in the two-man rowing event, obstacles plagued both the future adviser and his rowing partner, Sebastian Bea: a broken rib and two bulging discs, respectively, which required them to adjust their rowing patterns. Still another surprise awaited them at the final race for the medal in Sydney. A computer in their boat that measured their rowing pace malfunctioned, forcing Mr. Murphy and Mr. Bea to “race blind” and row by feel instead. Nevertheless, the two prevailed, coming in second to France. “We were elated with the silver-medal finish because of all the things we had to do just to be in the Olympics — my rib injury and his back injury,” Mr. Murphy said. The biggest lesson from that victory continues to apply to his career as an adviser. “What helped me deal with the adversity is developing this mindset that every day is a chance to get better, stronger and smarter,” Mr. Murphy said. “There is always more to learn and there are always things we can do better to ensure the clients are as well taken care of as possible.”