Australian swimmer Daniel Kowalski outed himself in an article he wrote for the April 18 issue of the Sydney Morning Herald, according to Advocate.com .
Kowalski, 34, won Olympic medals in 1996 and 2000, and now works as an advisor for athletes. Kowalski, who started coming out to family and friends four years ago, wrote, "I often think that if I had people to look up to, to read about, who were elite athletes and were easily accessiblepeople who had lived some of my experiences as an athletethen it would have helped the situation. It would have made it easier. But having lived it, I do understand why so few athletes have come out. In Australia, there have been Ian Roberts and more recently Matthew Mitcham."
Mitcham, a diver, won an Olympic gold medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics. The 22-year-old came out to the Herald earlier that year.