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
• OLYMPIC SWIMMER MARK THORMEYER PERFORMED AT HIS PEAK AFTER G OUT AS GAY
• FOR GAY OH STATE SWIMMER, POOL BEME HIS SAFE SPACE
• TWO GAY SWIMMERS ARE BT IENDS AND EACH OTHER’S ROCK

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

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. 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.

OLYMPIC SWIMMER MARK THORMEYER PERFORMED AT HIS PEAK AFTER G OUT AS GAY

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. Swimmer Mark Thormeyer was a wreck leadg up to the 2016 Canadian Olympic Trials, his hidg beg gay so taxg and bilatg that one day he broke down and lay helpls on his bedroom floor. The two most proment thgs that make up my inty are beg a swimmer and beg gay.

I didn’t know if I uld be gay and swim (at the time I didn’t even know if gay people uld play any sport).

FOR GAY OH STATE SWIMMER, POOL BEME HIS SAFE SPACE

Over time my teammat didn’t jt see me as a gay guy but as a valuable teammate and iend and out of the pool. I do so I n try to be a role mol for a stgglg gay kid swimmg, someone I wish I had to look up to when I was younger. Homophobia is still a very relevant issue wh swimmg and has been observed om the age group club level to the ternatnal level.

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

While openly gay swimmers are nothg new, Nassib is a history-maker as the first openly gay player the NFL. As Gay Tim reported here, Nassib posted a photo of the two on his Instagram story early 2023, ptng “Kickg off 2023 wh my man and a trip to the playoffs.

Nassib was playg for the Rairs when he me out as gay June 2021 makg him the first openly gay active NFL player the league’s then-101-year history. Nassib sat down wh ABC News July 2022 to discs his experience g out and playg the NFL as an openly gay man. He wrote, however, that he NFL, like most other aspects of Wtern society, is seemgly more ready for and acceptg of openly gay athlet.

Henig began racg for the Yale women’s swim team 2018 and was the hight-srg member of that team his sophomore year. While stori such as Henig’s show that queer reprentatn the sport n exist, many swimmers the past few years have reported homophobic and transphobic treatment om teammat ach, and the greater swimmg muny. In 2019, Abrahm Deve shared a post on Instagram, allegg that he was kicked off the Stanford swim team for beg gay.