Australian Olympian Tweets 'Suck on That F*ggots', Loses Sponsor

Australian Olympic gold medalist Stephanie Rice, who won three gold medals in Beijing 2008 and holds the world record in the 400m indicidual medley, lost a major sponsorship from Jaguar over the weekend for sending out a tweet containing an anti-gay slur, Reuters reports:

"Rice, 22, tweeted 'Suck on that f--gots' after Australia's rugby union team, the Wallabies, defeated South Africa's Springboks on Saturday. The swimmer, who won both individual medleys at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was part of Australia's victorious 4x200 freestyle team, later apologized and removed the comment. 'I made a comment on Twitter on Saturday night in the excitement of the moment. I did not mean to cause offence and I apologize,' she wrote in a blog on her website. But Jaguar Australia general manager Kevin Goult announced that his company has withdrawn its sponsorship."

Along with the sponsorship Rice also loses a $100K Jaguar she had been driving. Her otter sponsor, Sunrice, criticized Rice's statement but made no move to withdraw.

The withdrawal of Jaguar's endorsement came after outrage over the tweet, which Rice deleted.

Perhaps the most vocal anger came from Australian gay rugby icon Ian Roberts.

Said Roberts: "She is an idiot . . . and anyone who continues to endorse her as an athlete is an idiot as well. And I say that with a very sad tone in my voice. What a fool. And if her sponsors don't do something about it, they're fools as well...Ialso like seeing Australians do well. But it is never acceptable to belittle gay people."

Gold-winning Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham defended Rice from the criticism, saying he had forgiven her:

"I know she's not homophobic because we are good friends. It was just an extremely poor choice of words. Some people when they use that language don't realise they are causing offence. But it is an issue for a lot of gay people, who get quite upset about it because they have spent so long trying to change people's mentality about these things. I don't find that term very offensive because of my generation but other people do, and you have to consider everyone."

 

Openly Gay Mark Tewksbury to Lead Canada at 2012 Olympics

Mark Tewksbury, the openly gay Olympian swimmer who very publicly broke ties with the International Olympic Committee following its 1999 corruption scandal, has been named Canada's chef de mission for the 2012 London Olympics:

"'I have the amazing honour and privilege of being the chef de mission,' Tewksbury announced on CTV's Canada AM Thursday morning. 'I got the news a little while ago and have been sitting tight on it until today, so finally I can talk.' The chef de mission is selected by the Canadian Olympic Committee as the official representative and spokesperson of the Canadian Olympic Team...In addition to inspiring and motivating the 2012 Olympic team, Tewksbury says he'll also be working to ensure the team reaches its goals during the next Olympiad...Tewksbury, 42, competed in two Olympics before retiring from competition in 1992. At the 1988 games in Seoul he won a silver medal as part of Canada's relay team. In 1992, Tewksbury beat expectations to snatch Canada's first gold medal of the Barcelona games. He has since been inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, and the International Swimming Hall of Fame."

Former Australian Olympic Swimmer Daniel Kowalski: I'm Gay

Daniel Kowalski, a four-time Olympic medalist in swimming for Australia, came out of the closet today in a column in 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. There truly is a genuine sense that everything will be OK. 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."

 Kowalski said it has been difficult:

"Being a gay man with a foot half in and out of the closet is tough; the games it plays with your mind - and more importantly, your heart - are hard to put into words but I am going to try my best. I finally accepted my sexuality at the end of 2006 following a huge anxiety attack at work. After what were literally years of torment, denial and very, very dark times, I couldn't live a lie to myself any more. You often read that when people came out they had felt depressed or had suicidal tendencies. I, like them, experienced all of the extremes, but mostly it was the loneliness that was the hardest part of being gay - and still is. The number of times 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."

Kowalski laments the homophobia in professional sports:

"I often think that if I had had people to look up to, to read about, who were elite athletes and were easily accessible - people who had lived some of my experiences as an athlete - then it would have helped the situation. It would have made it easier. But having lived it, I do understand why so few elite athletes have come out. In Australia, there have been Ian Roberts and more recently Matthew Mitcham...I recently read in The Sunday Age (''Stars of the AFL come out for gays'', 11/4) that the AFL, perceived as one of the last bastions of masculinity and homophobia, through its players association was taking a stance to stamp out homophobia by featuring some of its players in a series of campaigns. This is a huge step and as a gay man something I am extremely appreciative of because at the end of the day this support, and in turn education, is what is needed."

Sounds like Kowalski needs some support. Now that he's living his truth, there's a much better chance he'll get it, and I hope he does.

Sportrait: Matthew Mitcham

An exhibition of photographer William Yang's photos of Australian Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham has opened in Sydney at the maunsell wickes at barry stern galleries.

More shots, AFTER THE  JUMP...

SameSame interviews the photographer here.

First Stonewall Swim Raises $100K for Community Foundation

The first-ever Stonewall Swim took place over the weekend despite a hurricane whipping up the East Coast.

Waters were calmer on the Great South Bay between Sayville and Fire Island Pines where the 3.5-mile swim took place. Thirty-four swimmers took part and through sponsors raised $100,000 for the Stonewall Community Foundation, which contributes grants to various LGBT organizations throughout NYC's five boroughs in the areas of health care, mental health, social service, substance abuse, community organizing, advocacy, arts, culture and the media.

The group plans to hold the swim annually.

A few more shots of participants (sorry I don't have IDs), AFTER THE JUMP...

 

Ricky Berens Suffers Splitting Swimsuit Malfunction

U.S. swimmer Ricky Berens swimsuit tore open shortly before a race on Sunday at the FINA World Championships in Rome, but he swam anyway:

"As Ricky Berens, scheduled to swim third for the U.S. morning swim squad, bent over on the pool deck for a drink of water moments before the race, his suit — a Jaked01 — split significantly in the back, exposing his rear end. There was no time to change the suit,  so U.S. anchor leg Cullen Jones urged Berens to forget the gaping hole and swim. Berens dived in and contested his third leg as scheduled, helping the U.S. team to a fourth-place finish in its heat in 3 minutes, 11.64 seconds — and securing a critical slot in the night’s final for Phelps and his teammates...Berens, the 2009 Big 12 Swimmer of the Year from Texas, was not available to comment on the suit problem. Jones, though, said tears were becoming increasingly common as swimmers sought the tightest-fitting suits possible for the greatest performance-enhancement. 'They’re all splitting,' Jones said. 'We’re all having problems. We want to get it as tight as possible as sprinters.'”

A photo of the wardrobe malfunction, AFTER THE JUMP...

A few weeks ago, a female Italian swimmer had the same issue a few weeks ago.

In related news, six records have already been broken at the championships.