Elite British swimmer Dan Jervis has come out as gay ahead of next month’s Commonwealth Games.
The 26-year-old Welshman is set to compete at his third Commonwealths having had great success at the 2014 and 2018 games.
Jervis, who debuted at the Tokyo Olympic last year, said: "It took me 24 years to be who I am.
"I was adjusting to everything else, just trying to fit in – until I thought ‘Just be you'.
"You know, we’re just before the Commonwealth Games and there are going to be kids and adults watching who will know that I’m like them, and that I’m proud of who I am.
‘I want them to know the real Dan’ 🏊♂️
Welsh Olympic swimmer Dan Jervis says he wants to inspire others after coming out as gay pic.twitter.com/jsNFSc9CFg
— BBC Sport Wales (@BBCSportWales) June 29, 2022
Jervis was speaking on the BBC’s LGBT Sport Podcast and added: "For so long, I hated who I was.
"You see it all the time, people who are dying over this. They hate themselves so much that they’re ending their lives.
"So, if I can just be that someone people can look at and say, ‘yeah, they’re like me,’ then that’s good.
Swimmer Dan Jervis made his Olympic dream come true at the Tokyo Games.
Now, he wants to open up publicly for the first time about the fact he’s gay – and in doing so, hopes to be the role-model that he perhaps didn’t see growing up.
🎧 The LGBT Sport Podcast on @BBCSounds ⤵️
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 29, 2022
Action gets underway in the pool on Thursday, 28 July, with Jervis among the favourites for a medal.
