{"id":417455,"date":"2020-02-20T02:10:46","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T09:10:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=417455"},"modified":"2020-03-17T13:28:35","modified_gmt":"2020-03-17T20:28:35","slug":"markus-thormeyer-comes-out-as-gay-life-is-much-better-when-you-fully-embrace-you-for-who-you-are","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/markus-thormeyer-comes-out-as-gay-life-is-much-better-when-you-fully-embrace-you-for-who-you-are\/","title":{"rendered":"Markus Thormeyer Comes Out as Gay: “Life is much better when you fully embrace you for who you are”"},"content":{"rendered":"

2020s Vision: The Athlete Voice<\/strong><\/p>\n

The story of Markus Thormeyer<\/span><\/strong> reminds us of another way in which The Athlete Voice – about so much more than ‘more money and freedom to race where I want’ – has been and remains so important when it comes to helping shape the future of sport and make it a healthier place for all, Craig Lord writes. Below Matthew De George’s story on Markus’ story you can read an archive piece from John Lohn on Mark Tewksbury<\/span> <\/strong>and then listen to Mark in a 2019 speech that\u00a0follows these words:<\/i><\/p>\n

“… authenticity and integrity shape the culture around us – and they matter …” – Mark Tewksbury<\/span><\/h4>\n

When Canadian Markus Thormeyer<\/strong> was preparing in 2015 for the Rio Olympics, he felt something was missing. Though he was part of a 12-strong training group in Vancouver, he acknowledged a barrier in fully embracing not just his teammates but the devotion in the pool that would be needed to achieve a career goal.<\/p>\n

The remedy, he decided, was to open up to his teammates about his sexuality instead of keeping the fact that he was gay from them.<\/p>\n

Thormeyer tells the story in a personal essay for Outsports<\/a>, detailing how the decision played into his training and the results it helped bring about.<\/p>\n

Writes Thormeyer:<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter letting my walls down and coming out to the team, I felt like I could finally be me. It felt like a literal weight was lifted off my shoulders. I came to the pool with my head up and smile on my face. There were no distractions.<\/em><\/p>\n

I could go to workout and only focus on training instead of worrying about keeping up an exhausting act that wasn\u2019t me. Also knowing that my training group accepted me for who I am and will support me no matter what helped me feel safe and loved every day.<\/em><\/p>\n

Feeling safe in my training environment and having no distractions allowed me to push myself to new limits in the pool. My training got better, I got stronger and my technique got sharper. Not only that, but I also broke down some walls between me and my teammates and our relationships flourished. Training with them fostered relationships that will last a lifetime.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Markus Thormeyer, 22, made those Olympics on the seventh-place 400 free relay. The Newmarket, Ontario, native has become one of the program\u2019s most versatile swimmers, representing Canada at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships. He was 22nd in the 200 free, 11th in the 100 back and eight in the 200 back in Gwangju, South Korea, last summer on the way to being named Canada\u2019s Male Swimmer of the Year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read the rest of Thormeyer\u2019s story here.<\/a><\/p>\n

From The Archive<\/h3>\n

Recalling the story of a Canadian Olympic champion who used his own experience to become a pioneer among sports stars helping others to help themselves by being themselves.<\/em><\/p>\n

It 2013, on the 25th anniversary of the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games, John Lohn wrote the following for SwimVortex to mark\u00a0the launching point for Canada\u2019s Mark Tewskbury<\/strong> to flourish at the next Olympiad and to become an open advocate of gay rights.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes, the big point is missed. We have a tendency to get wrapped up in medal hauls, world-record performances and the standing of an individual from a historical perspective. Caught up in that hoopla, we can overlook finer points which matter just as much. And so, we take a look at the 1988 Olympic Games \u2013 and a man\u2019s career\/life \u2013 from a different perspective.<\/p>\n

In no way was Mark Tewksbury a headliner at the Seoul Games. Many others had more impressive performances than the Canadian. Yes, he was the catalyst to his homeland earning the silver medal in the 400 medley relay, teaming with Victor Davis to give the Canadians a sensational front half. Yes, he was the fifth-place finisher in the 100 backstroke. But more than anything, 1988 wasn\u2019t exactly what Tewksbury wanted.<\/p>\n

As the gold medalist in the 100 back from the 1987 Pan Pacific Championships, Tewksbury had every reason to believe he could reach the podium in Seoul. But when the 100 backstroke concluded, he watched Japan\u2019s Daichi Suzuki, American David Berkoff and Soviet Igor Polyansky occupy the medal positions in a race that led to a ban on submarinery \u00a0that saw the protagonists disappear from view for most of the race. For the Canadian, the result, in some ways, wasn\u2019t surprising: the enormity of the situation got to Tewksbury.<\/p>\n

\u201cI arrived as a young 20-year-old at the Olympics with all the clich\u00e9s: Overwhelmed, totally lost, totally blew it the first time,\u201d Tewksbury said in an interview last year with the Globe and Mail. \u201cAll the things (team officials) tell us that could happen, it did happen.\u201d<\/p>\n