Olympic Champion Mark Tewksbury: How Swimming Taught Me to Speak Up and Lead Change
This exclusive interview with Mark Tewksbury was conducted by Chris Tompkins of The Motivational Speakers Agency.
Mark Tewksbury is a Canadian sporting legend, best known for winning Olympic gold in the 100-meter backstroke at the 1992 Barcelona Games. A trailblazer both in and out of the pool, Mark made history not only for his swimming achievements but also as Canada’s first openly gay Olympian.
Today, he is a celebrated advocate for human rights and inclusion, as well as one of the most sought-after Olympian speakers for organisations striving to foster resilience, authenticity, and performance.
In this exclusive interview with The Champions Speakers Agency, Mark opens up about his journey from Olympic champion to global changemaker—sharing powerful reflections on representation, identity, high performance, and what it truly takes to create inclusive cultures in sport and beyond.
Q: You were Canada’s first openly gay Olympian at a time when very few athletes had come out publicly. In your view, what role does visible representation play in empowering young LGBT+ athletes today?
Mark Tewksbury: “Well, I guess it’s really important for people to see role models, people that represent them. But I have to tell you, coming out was not an easy thing. I never imagined I would share such personal stuff publicly.
“But there just came a moment – gosh, in 1998, so many, many years ago – long before people were talking about gay and lesbian and bisexual, transgender issues in public, long before television shows were out there, long before anybody in sport really came out…
“I just decided sometimes the personal becomes political, and unfortunately, I am a role model. And I can’t keep this dance of “It’s my private life, no one needs to know” and “Who knows and who doesn’t?” And so, finally, I just decided to break those silos down.
“It’s been really interesting, you know. I’ve been a role model for many, many athletes. It was really important around the Sochi 2004 Olympic Games when Russia declared that anti-propaganda law basically excluded the LGBT community or targeted them.
“Coming to Sochi, there was a 17-year-old young luge athlete from Canada who was a closeted gay guy, and he was so terrified to go – to think that the Russians would be looking through his phone and his computer, and he could go to jail. He reached out to his sports psychologist, and I got to be his mentor through that process.
“That really brought home for me the first-hand frontline importance of being there to support the next generation and what it means for the young LGBTQ athletes to be coming up – to know that other people have been there before them.”
Q: In your early career as a speaker, you were once described by a client as being “too openly gay.” Reflecting on that moment, what impact did it have on your decision to come out publicly—and what does it reveal about internalised bias in corporate environments?
Mark Tewksbury: “Yeah, so this was many, many years ago before I came out. And so, for a corporate client to say, “You’re too gay,” I was like, “Wait a minute, I’m not out – I don’t think I’m gay enough.” So, I went the opposite. That was actually the impetus for me to come out publicly.
“I just – when I was discriminated against, I lost a massive six-figure speaking contract. Ironically, the guy was gay himself. So, it’s one of those classic examples of, you know, sometimes the women in power don’t want other women to succeed.
“Sometimes, the gay that’s closeted in a corporate environment – certainly 25 years ago – was terrified of somebody that might be more “looking gay” than them, that it might expose them. So, I just decided, enough of this. If I’m being discriminated against and I’m not even out, what have I got to lose? So, you’re not gay enough, you’re too gay – let’s just be who we are.”
Q: Many organisations are talking about diversity and inclusion, but meaningful progress remains uneven—especially in sports. From your experience, what practical steps must be taken to create truly inclusive environments for all athletes?
Mark Tewksbury: “Well, I think that we have to be really purposeful – in fact, just like the business community has to be super purposeful right now about making sure that we’re representative. You know, I think that people are sometimes miffed about this idea of diversity and inclusion, and I like to explain it really simply.
“For me, it’s like you’re trying to make the most amazing stew or bowl of soup imaginable. Diversity is all the ingredients that go into that soup, but inclusion is the cauldron in which the soup is actually made.
“And that’s the culture that you create – by the language you use, the tone that you set – for people to be themselves at work. And the stronger that cauldron is, the more those ingredients can get the best out of themselves and fully savour that soup.
“Otherwise, it’s totally a bland soup if nobody’s allowed to kind of shine and do their thing. So, diversity, inclusion – you just want to create the best possible soup for your culture. So, you’ve got to have that place where people feel like they can bring themselves fully to work.”
Q: Your journey to Olympic gold no doubt required extreme discipline, focus, and resilience. How did competing at the Olympic Games help shape your philosophy on leadership, performance, and life beyond sport?
Mark Tewksbury: “The Olympics have completely shaped who I am. They really taught me the fundamentals of high performance: how to lead myself to amazing results, how to lead others, and how to sustain it.
“You know, the Olympic movement – it’s the athletes, it’s the coaches, but it’s also sustained by values and something that gives it all meaning. Without that sort of other layer, the gold medal doesn’t mean that much.
“So, it’s really taught me a lot about high performance. And there’s this myth that high performance is for the elite – you know that it’s an elite idea – but actually, the fundamentals of high performance, I started as an eight-year-old kid. All the way through, the trajectory took me obviously to the highest levels of what I did.
“But high performance is really that ability to constantly improve, to constantly evaluate what you’re doing and find ways to be better today than I was yesterday. And I think that’s a philosophy that works well not just through the Olympics in sports but in life.”
Q: Olympians are often seen as the pinnacle of personal achievement. From your perspective, what are the most critical personal qualities required to succeed at the highest level of competition—and how do they translate beyond the sporting arena?
Mark Tewksbury: “Well, I think there are all kinds of them. I think there are many, many micro-skills that are needed to be successful – to bring your best in whatever we’re doing.
“I think it requires a lot of self-awareness. Requires agility. Requires resilience to get through the tough times. It requires mental fortitude to be strong when sometimes you might want to give up.
“It requires being open to change and flexible and adaptable – to do things differently. So, you know, it just laid such a solid foundation to pivot and to kind of do what’s needed to be successful in this moment. And once you do that step, then look to the next one after that.”
This exclusive interview with Mark Tewksbury was conducted by Chris Tompkins of The Motivational Speakers Agency.
