The Welsh Olympic swimmer is humble when discussing his successes and refreshingly candid in sharing his losses. The year-old from the South Wales Valleys town of Resolven, near Swansea, is also polite and utterly charming. Last year was a big one for the Team GB swimmer, both professionally and personally. In June, he came out publicly , and in doing so, he became a trailblazer. Not only did Dan become one of the few publicly gay professional swimmers currently competing, but he also joined the growing list of gay watersports stars that includes Tom Daley, Anton Down-Jenkins, and Markus Thormeyer.
In the pool, there were both highs and lows. As we discover, it left him feeling lost and not only questioning his place in the sport, but his Christian faith as well. But fast-forward to the end of and he arrived home from competing in the Melbourne Short Course Swimming Championships in December with a new record under his belt and a renewed passion for elite swimming.
When we speak between Christmas and New Year , Dan seems at peace. I went because I needed to find the love for the sport again. And I did. I had a really good time.
Not only that but he finished sixth in the metre freestyle event, besting his own Welsh record of It was a sweet note to end the year on after a disappointing summer. After a fantastic first half of the year, everything seemed to be lining up in his favour β only for him to have to pull out at heats stage due to the after-effects of Covid.
It was a huge blow. It taught me a lot of hard lessons. To have that boyhood dream snatched away from me so quickly, for something that I could not control, was heartbreaking. I questioned a lot of things. I might never get that opportunity again and that is really hard. Dan paints a picture of countless hours spent training, while missing out on family occasions, seeing friends and living a normal life.
