Joanna Fargus, a former competitive swimmer, has courageously opened up about her body image and struggle with weight management. She discusses how these challenges define her secondary career as an Olympian. Fargus was once a rising star of the sporting world, taking home gold medal in the women’s 200m backstroke at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. She subsequently suffered for years with the shame and anger created as she struggled with yo-yo dieting. She just recently told the world about her experience and how she was eventually able to overcome these obstacles and win back her pride.
Fargus first came to international prominence at the 2007 Swimming World Championships in Melbourne. She even raced hard in the women’s 200m backstroke prelims. Despite her undeniable talent, she found herself battling with personal issues that overshadowed her achievements. Even with her rigorous training 30+ hours a week, she couldn’t keep her weight in check. This ongoing struggle made her feel guilty and ashamed.
“I felt like I had to insert a caveat that my Olympic experience was ’20 years and 20 kilograms ago,’” Fargus explained. Her weight struggles would sometimes cause her to become self-conscious and not want to talk about her life-changing experiences as an Olympian. She understood the looks of confusion on people’s faces when they saw her, an elite-level athlete, competing while being heavyset. Her identity as an elite swimmer conflicted with her body image. The disconnect took a major toll on her mental health.
For decades, health food fanatic Fargus was on and off every diet imaginable in pursuit of the perfect physique. These were the Diana-in-the-flesh, celebrity-fueled, fad diets, like juice diet, paleo, maybe the Atkins, none of them worked long-term. “I felt like I was doing everything wrong,” she admitted. “No matter how hard I trained or how strict I was with my diet, nothing seemed to work.” This added frustration only deepened her sense of inadequacy which she went home with for the next 20 years.
Her major breakthrough came after a visit to an endocrinologist, who gave Fargus an outside look into her weight struggles. It would enable her to lose a final 40 kilograms. Her medical professional would soon introduce her to the wonder of weight-loss injections. This intervention went further, radically altering her physical appearance. It gave her the confidence to take on her full identity of being an Olympian.
Under this new support, Fargus started to pursue an inner empowerment she hadn’t felt in years. So, she stopped tying her accomplishments to her place on the scale. Rather than cringing at the gloating, she focused on all of the hard work and dedication that brought her so much success in the pool.
Today, I can reflect on my life as an Olympian without shame or regret. She stated. Today, I am proud of what my body can do and I know that my value is not attached to my weight. Her touching story continues to inspire millions of people grappling with the same issue of body image and self-confidence.
In the past few years, Fargus has become an outspoken advocate for prioritizing mental health in professional sports just as much as physical health. She is committed to ensuring that athletes do not need to experience the toxic burden of unattainable body ideals while training and competing. Rather, they must be empowered and helped through the process of becoming healthier, both mentally and physically.
Fargus’s account serves as an important reminder of the convoluted state of athletes and body image, particularly among athletes who have already reached the elite level. It shines a light on the importance of having open dialogue around weight and mental health in competitive sports. As the world continues to wake up to these realities, Fargus wants to do what he can to affect change in the sporting world.
