Swimmer Michael Gunning: 'Sport can be toxic – but everybody deserves to feel safe taking part'

Trailblazing elite swimmer Michael Gunning has claimed that sport can be a “toxic environment”.

Growing up as a queer person of colour and competing in elite swimming from a young age, Gunning told the Big Issue that he often felt the pressure to conform to a “stereotype” of an elite athlete.

The 31-year-old represented both Great Britain and Jamaica during his 16-year swimming career, competing at the 2017 and 2019 World Aquatics Championships, but despite his many achievements, he says one of the things he’s proudest of is becoming an “ambassador” for LGBTQ+ voices in sport.

“Because I was a person of colour in a sport where people didn’t necessarily understand why I was doing swimming, I didn’t want to be further different by talking about my sexuality, so I just suppressed it,” Gunning explained.

“I suppressed my sexuality for many, many years, so now I’m really trying to show people that if you can be your true, authentic self – whether you do sport or whether you do any other activities – it is so liberating… There’s nothing better than just being yourself and not having any burdens. Everyone deserves that.”

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The former elite swimmer, who became the first openly gay athlete to represent Jamaica after coming out in 2018 on reality dating show The Bi Life, thinks that making sport more inclusive could help people to not only feel safe competing, but “thrive”.

“One of the big things for me was there weren’t really many people of colour in swimming. I never really had many role models to look up to,” he continued. “When I was younger, lots of teachers used to tell me to do a sport that I would succeed at, ‘try athletics, try running’, but I almost love proving people wrong. 

“I pushed myself out of my comfort zone, and I continued to strive towards getting better and doing butterfly, doing the things that not many people would think I’d be able to do, and I made it to two world championships.”

Michael Gunning thinks that when people focus on the “stereotype” of an elite athlete, they can often “try and do things to tick a box” because they “don’t think that you fit into those different groups”. 

“Being an elite swimmer, I always thought that I had to be really macho and really muscly and really intimidating and masculine, but obviously, I’ve managed to get to where I can be my bubbly self,” he laughs.

“We just really need to get rid of those stereotypes that are currently out there and just allow people to thrive in that environment. You might not be going for Olympic gold, you might not be doing a triathlon, or going to nationals in any sport, but it’s OK just to give it a go and to learn, and just have fun.”

He explained that in a year where LGBTQ+ rights are being challenged, particularly when it comes to trans people taking part in sport, it’s critical that “everyone should be able to do sport and feel safe doing so”. 

Fuelled by not only his desire to inspire young people in sports, but also by his degree in early childhood education, Michael Gunning has backed children’s charity NSPCC’s new campaign Listen Up, Speak Up, aimed at helping adults to spot the signs of emotional abuse in children.

The campaign found that nearly all UK adults (94%) believe emotional abuse in childhood can have a lasting psychological effect well into adulthood, but almost one in six (17%) could not correctly identify the signs of abuse. 

With its research finding one in 15 children in the UK will experience emotional abuse, Gunning is keen to raise awareness of not only spotting abuse, but helping children feel empowered to speak up and share their worries. 

“Sometimes, different types of abuse aren’t always spoken about,” he said. “I’m a qualified swim teacher, and I think seeing things online and through engaging with different activities, that’s how I kind of noticed different signs of abuse when I was actually swim teaching.”

He explained that one of his “biggest fears” as a swimming teacher used to be “getting it wrong” when it came to reporting signs of abuse, but that he now knows it’s more important to “speak up than not to”.

“No one wants to be wrong. No one wants to get people in trouble if they’re not actually doing anything wrong and it’s just a simple misunderstanding, but it’s better to speak up than not to,” he said, explaining that the campaign’s title, Listen Up, Speak Up, highlights that people should not be “afraid to speak up and get it wrong”.

Gunning adds that emotional abuse can be compounded by the pressure of sporting environments, and that he would love to see the pressure taken off young people in order to help them enjoy the benefits of sport and exercise.

“Being in swimming lessons myself, my parents were actually quite laid back, and they didn’t really put too much pressure on me. The pressure came from myself,” he said.

The 31-year-old has dealt with “nerves” and “insecurities” throughout his swimming career, adding that as a person of colour he often felt like he “had to justify being in those spaces”.

“Being a swim teacher, I see lots of parents putting a lot of pressure on their children, and it’s not nice to see… obviously, we want them to learn to swim and have that skill, but sometimes that extra pressure can come from friends, families, guardians,” he said.

“That pressure – which can be seen as abuse as well – I’d love people to lift that and just enjoy sport and exercise,” he says, explaining that aside from swimming, many other sports like football “gave me confidence to own my identity”.

“Being in those environments, hearing some parents shouting and shouting and shouting horrible words to their children when they didn’t score and they missed the goal, can be quite a toxic environment. I’d love for people to take away the pressure and just remember why they’re doing it.”

Going to therapy is ‘part of daily life’ 

Michael Gunning says that more still can be done to help remove the stigma of speaking up about mental health and getting the help you need. As a survivor of the tragic Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, in which 23 people died and hundreds more were injured, the swimmer has become an advocate for reaching out for help when you need it.

“All my life, I’ve seen therapy as as a negative,” he said. “I was at the Manchester bombing in 2017, and that kind of forced me to go to therapy for the first time, and actually speaking up about it, speaking to a professional who made me feel at ease, really helped me a lot.

“I still see a therapist now, that’s very much part of my network of daily life, even now I’ve retired as an elite swimmer.”

He continues: “You can feel very alone, because not many people might be able to understand that experience, but the more I speak to people, the more I speak to professionals, I understand that everyone will go through different things, whether it is a form of abuse, whether it is a heartbreak, and it’s OK to speak up.

“When you do, more people will come to you and go, ‘I had that same experience’.”

Alongside his work advocating for mental health and safeguarding for children in supporting the NSPCC’s campaign, Michael Gunning is currently speaking to parliament about getting “more funding for swimming lessons for communities that can’t necessarily afford it”, as well as hosting the Sky Sports documentary Beneath the Surface, which shone a light on LGBTQ+ athletes.

“All the different campaigns and things I support, I just want people to have a smile on their face and be themselves,” he said.

“Growing up being LGBT, it is tough, but I think everything that I support, will always be to make the world a better place.

“Hopefully it makes people realise that it’s OK to be different. It’s OK not to feel like you always fit in.”

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