While Outsports has seen more male athletes come out in swimming over the last five years than almost any other sport, only two male swimmers in the Rio Olympics are publicly out. One of them is Tonga's Amini Fonua, who swam for Texas A&M and competing in the 2012 Olympics in London.
Fonua received a swimsuit a while back from what was then called the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center, complete with the name of the organization on the back of the swimsuit. Fonua has not shied away from wearing it wherever he can, but he's made it a point of doing so around other elite swimmers.
"I have worn that suit to every single practice leading up to Rio, because there's not a lot of diversity in swimming," Fonua told the Center's Jim Key. "It's a gentle reminder to everybody and myself that I'm different, and to take pride in that difference."
That's the kind of attitude and visibility that helps make it so much easier for the next person to come out.
We'll be watching Fonua compete Saturday in the men's 100-meter breastsroke.
