Water polo athlete shoot

My friend asked me to take photos of her daughter in a swimsuit. I asked if the theme of the shoot is swimsuit or water polo, she confirmed it was water polo. I used Pinterest to look up good swimsuit poses and good athlete poses that use a ball (water polo, basketball, etc.) and came up with a plan.

This photo is shot into the sun with a flash on a monopod held by an assistant to the left and behind me.

The good: there are no shadows on the face. Hair is attractively backlit.

The bad: the original RAW photo has very subdued colors because of the sun. The colors were restored and enhanced in Lightroom.

This photo is impossible without a fairly powerful fill flash.