Pro swimmer Michael Gunning continues to inspire both in an out of the pool
After a life of competitive performance, Michael Gunning’s legacy in the Jamaican and UK swimming scenes alike has been thoroughly cemented.As a quick glance at his Instagram will demonstrate, Gunning is a world class athlete, a proud gay man, and an absolute cutie pie.
A post shared by Michael Gunning (@michaelgunning1)Raised and originally competing in the UK, Gunning fought off the biased, debunked stereotype that Black people are inherently poorer swimmers from his peers all throughout his youth.
By age 13, he had already nabbed his first national swimming title.Gunning switched to swimming representing Jamaica, his father’s home nation, in 2017.
For years, in events like the Manchester International Swim Meet and the World Aquatics Championships, Gunning bore the flag of Jamaica.In 2018, he participated in Rupaul’s Drag Race alum Courtney Act’s queer dating show The Bi Life, on which he came out — not as bi, but as gay.
