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First transgender swimmer to compete in 1st Division intercollegiate games shares inspiring story
Harvard University’s Schuyler Bailar, joined our favourite daytime host, Ellen DeGeneres, at The Ellen Show to share about his journey from being a top female competitive swimmer in the nation to the first transgender athlete to compete in NCAA Division 1.
The 19-year-old collegiate swimmer from Virginia told Ellen that he has always known that he’s transgender, just that he didn’t have the right words to describe his experience when he’s younger.
‘I think it’s something I’ve always known, but I didn’t always have the vocabulary to explain it,’ Bailar explained.
It was only during the gap year he took after graduating from high school when he started discovering his true identity.
‘I don’t think that I hated my body because of how it looks,’ he said. ‘I didn’t like it because it didn’t represent the gender that I feel.’
On the surface, Bailar was a successful student athlete in competitive swimming. But he revealed to Ellen that he was actually struggling with an eating disorder.
However, by overcoming the eating disorder and coming to terms with his gender identity, Bailar was finally able to break free and be more comfortable with himself.
Talking about his swimming coaches and teammates, Bailar expressed gratitude for their full acceptance and support.
And even though he is no longer one of the top swimmers in his new team with the other boys, Bailar shared his newfound joy in the sports and also the glory of diving in as his true self.
‘I’m not winning anything like I used to and that’s definitely humbling. But it kind of has helped me develop something I was working on before, which is to love swimming just for swimming.
‘I think that there’s a lot of other kinds of glory in that.’
Watch the inspiring segment on Bailar’s remarkable journey here:
You can also know more about Bailar and his experiences with transition on his Instagram:
The post First transgender swimmer to compete in 1st Division intercollegiate games shares inspiring story appeared first on Gay Star News.
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