David Thibodeau could swim in front of thousands of spectators, but when it came to accepting his own sexuality, he struggled for years.
In a new essay published by Outsports, 22-year-old David explains that when he was a teenager, his mom pressured him to play sports, but he always felt “different” from the other kids.
Until he discovered swimming.
“At first swimming was just something I did, it wasn’t part of who I was,” he writes. “That quickly changed as I became faster and started practicing and competing more. Soon it was eight practices a week.”
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After graduating high school, David was accepted into the University of New Brunswick, where he joined the swim team.
David remained in the closet during his first two years of college. It wasn’t until his junior year, when he started coaching other swimmers, that he began to accept his sexuality.
“Swimming helped me deal with emotions and feelings that I did not understand,” he writes. “It allowed me to clear my head and think for hours and hours. It was a mental break from having to hide who I was.”
He also met another coach who was openly lesbian, who had a huge impact on him.
Related: It wasn’t easy, but this gay college swimmer is now set to compete at the World University Games
“She showed me that I could be who I was with the utmost confidence,” he writes. “Not having to hide who I was around another person made me feel safer.”
Today, David is out and proud. He completed his undergraduate degree and is now completing his Masters in Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University where he is also a member of the men’s swim team.
Scroll down for a sampling from David’s Instagram page…
gravityyaoi
Another privileged white guy with shirtless instagram pics in exotic locales just struggled so hard.
JaredMacBride
Jealousy does bad things to a person.
mhoffman953
@gravityyaoi
I’m unaware of whites having a “privilege”. Can you specifically point out where this “privilege” is?