Australian Swimmer Comes Out
Daniel Kowalski, a retired Australian swimmer, came out and announced that he is gay a few days ago. The two-time Olympian (Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000) stated in the Australian paper, The Age, “Despite the dark, fearful, and lonely times, being able to write this fills me with a sense of freedom, pride, and relief…I wrestled for a long, long time wondering whether being gay made me a bad person but I can no longer fight who I am and that, simply put, is just me.”
After years of torment trying to deal with his sexuality amidst his sporting career, Kowalski decided that it was time to be true to himself and came out to close family and friends at the end of 2006. “The number of time that I have sat on the couch or lain in bed bawling my eyes out, scared and fearful of the future, are too many to mention”, stated Kowalski.
Kowalski continues to on in the article lamenting about homophobia in sports and the difficulty that individuals have who find themselves struggling with their sexuality in an environment that, sometimes, is not very accepting, educated, and knowledgeable of such difficulties. Having more elite athletes come out and share their stories can help current athletes in their struggles and, hopefully, have more positive experiences.
Kowalski, 34, is a four-time Olympic medalist winning a silver medal in the 1,500m free and two bronze medals in the 400m and 200m free at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and winning a gold medal as a part of the 4x200m free relay team at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. He officially retired from competitive swimming in 2002.
