A Washington businessman recently patented a product that would give ankle support to athletes and senior citizens with low-cut shoes.

Tyrone Wilson, owner of Wilson Cleaners in Washington and a 1988 graduate of Washington High School, recently launched a new company, Swallow Inc., and patented a line of ankle braces, he said.

Wilson said he first came up with the idea when he took his son shopping for cleats to play football. Wilson’s son spotted a colorful pair of soccer cleats that he really wanted, but Wilson knew it wouldn’t be the proper support for his son’s intended sport.

“That’s when my mind started working when I saw the low-top cleats,” Wilson said. “I thought, ‘Let me come up with a concept where you can turn your low-top shoes into high-top support. (My son) wanted the most colorful shoes, which were soccer cleats, but what he really needed was something with high-top support.”

Wilson interviewed with “Shark Tank” when the casting crew came to Greenville last year, and the crew thought his product was unique and has since auditioned for a similar show on Discovery Channel called “All-American Makers.”

But Wilson decided that rather than wait for an opportunity, he would make his own. He paid for his own patent and research and had a company create a prototype, he said. Wilson also tasked the same company out of Wilmington to build the ankle brace and manufacture it, and he recently launched Internet sales, he said.

Wilson said he hopes to market his product to athletes, something he has experience in, being an athlete himself.

At a launch party, Wilson conducted surveys about which colors and styles would be most popular. Currently, the brace is blue and has the Swallow Inc. logo, but Wilson hopes to transform the product into something more appealing to the eye, he said.

“I’m giving my customers a niche to have a comfortable feel for their shoe. I have a nice product, but the whole thing is to have a niche so the public can really like it and it can be suitable for any person,” Wilson said.

Wilson also is working on a project called Urban Wear, a line similar to popular brands and styles of athletic merchandise like Stance socks — supportive basketball socks emblazoned with designs and photos of basketball players and the like.

Wilson hopes to set up Swallow Inc. corporate offices in Beaufort County and eventually be able to conduct research for, design and manufacture his products in-house, he said.

“I believe in my product,” Wilson said. “You got to have belief and trust in (your product).”

Catherine Glover, director of Washington-Beaufort Chamber of Commerce, said entrepreneurship is a big component of business and economic development in the area. Glover works frequently with entrepreneurs and encourages those looking to start a business to visit the Chamber for help in starting the process.

“We feel like entrepreneurship is a major piece of economic development,” Glover said. “A lot of people have a dream of being their own boss and creating their own destiny, and entrepreneurship is a great way to do that. We’ve seen many success stories out of our county where people have created a product or service, started their own business and been very successful.”

For more information, visit www.swallowinc.com.