Two gay swimmers are bt iends and each other’s rock - Outsports

Contents:

• FROM LLEGE SWIMMER TO HIGH SCHOOL ACH, GAY ATHLETE STAYED TE TO HIMSELF
• BEG OUT: GAY SWIM ACH DAVID THIBO PROVIS A SAFE SPACE THE POOL
• TWO GAY SWIMMERS ARE BT IENDS AND EACH OTHER’S ROCK
• THE GAY VERSN OF SI'S SWIMSU ISSUE
• FOR LLEGE SWIMMG ACH, BEG GAY NO LONGER A BIG THG AND THAT’S WHY ’S A GREAT THG
• SWIMMG MA ME GAY

FROM LLEGE SWIMMER TO HIGH SCHOOL ACH, GAY ATHLETE STAYED TE TO HIMSELF

When he asked for the drk, one of the people nearby asked him if he was gay. Apparently orrg beer is straight and orrg hard cir is gay. Tth was, Dalton was gay — this person jt didn’t know yet and was tryg to make an “nocent” crack.

On the latt episo of the Five Rgs To Rule Them All podst, Dalton talks about life and beg gay and around ele levels of swimmg. Not surprisg, wh all of the travel and movg around, he’s found hard to make gay iends and fd a boyiend. From llege swimmer to high school ach, gay athlete stayed te to himself.

‘The most challengg part of beg gay has actually been enuragg myself to be more open wh others, ’ MacJilton Lewis wr. When Brish diver Tom Daley announced he was gay, ronated wh me.

BEG OUT: GAY SWIM ACH DAVID THIBO PROVIS A SAFE SPACE THE POOL

However, after that first nversatn wh my mom, was not as if the floodgat opened and I began tellg everyone my life that I was gay.

Even though I uld sense I was a supportive environment at Cleveland State (where I attend llege and petively swam), was not until my sophomore year that I was ready to open up to one of my teammat. The most challengg part of beg gay has still been enuragg myself to be more open wh others. I unrstand the importance of lovg myself for who I am: an athlete, a ach, a son, a brother and a iend — who happens to be gay.

For Canadian swimmer David Thibo, g out as gay 2017 was not the end of his journey but the start of a new chapter. I was nvced that I uld not be a gay athlete, so I qu before I me out. We’re two swimmers and bt iends, both llege, who happen to be gay.

TWO GAY SWIMMERS ARE BT IENDS AND EACH OTHER’S ROCK

Before we tell you the story of how two gay swimmers helped each other e out, we want to share some background about each of . I was always good at hidg my emotns and phg my feelgs ep si, so I had no problem hidg that I was gay until high school. On top of everythg else I was a petive swimmer, a sport known for beg “more gay” bee my uniform was a ty piece of fabric jt large enough to ver “my stuff” and I went to a private, Catholic high school.

I was aaid of tellg my teammat that I was gay bee I feared they would look at me differently or my guy iends would distance themselv. The hard part was the lonely, dark place I put myself when faced wh the realy that people knew I was gay.

I’ve had such hard time g to terms wh my sexualy bee I was sred that my fay would hate me bee homosexualy is a s. At my school, swimmg was nsired a “gay” sport bee of our ltle Speedos.

THE GAY VERSN OF SI'S SWIMSU ISSUE

Even though I wanted to jt be “normal, ” that was not the ma reason I uldn’t wrap my head around wh beg gay. Josh are you gay? Fast forward to fay weekend, my sophomore year at the Universy of Arizona 2015, when I fally felt fortable wh my fay knowg.

Josh opened the text and all said was, “I’m gay, Josh. In his sophomore year of llege, Josh fell to a ep prsn.

FOR LLEGE SWIMMG ACH, BEG GAY NO LONGER A BIG THG AND THAT’S WHY ’S A GREAT THG

Sports reprented clu swimmg, divg, volleyball, bodybuildg, soccer, Asie Rul Football, gby and first two photos the gallery are openly gay Olympic divers Tom Daley and Asie Matthew Mcham (2nd om left the group photo). ) shot of Cristiano Ronaldo, maybe the gayt straight man the world.

For llege swimmg ach, beg gay no longer a big thg and that’s why ’s a great thg. I have been the head swimmg ach at Carnegie Mellon Universy Ptsburgh for 14 years, and spe beg openly gay and active our muny for three s, I seldom foc on the fact that I am a gay man achg men and women a llege settg. I would have said at 25 that beg a gay llege swimmg ach was strsful or dntg, but experience has tght me otherwise.

So much of my strs and prsn llege stemmed om the prsg fears of beg gay and the equally powerful need to e out. As a young gay person who did not see himself reprented the world at large or nnected to , I end up a place where I uldn’t reach out to fay or iends to close the distance my life.

SWIMMG MA ME GAY

The verbal rercements om iends and fay that beg gay was wrong at every level. As a reactn to my experienc and realizg by sharg my past maybe I uld help others their own velopment, I vowed to live as an openly gay llege ach. As a newbie gay man his first head achg job, seemed pnt to foc on my achg skills, not my sexual orientatn.