The first thing you realize when you talk to Greg Louganis is he’s just a regular guy … a regular guy who happens to be inarguably the best male diver in history. Louganis won five Olympic medals — four gold and one silver, including gold in both the 3-meter springboard and 10-meter platform, the first male diver to do so in back-to-back Olympics. He also has a record 47 national titles, six Pan-Am Games gold medals, five world championships, five FINA Cup medals and three NCAA championships. At the 1982 World Championships, he became the first diver to receive perfect 10s in international competition.
But Louganis’ selection to be Philadelphia FIGHT’s Lifetime Achievement honoree at its 25th-anniversary gala goes way beyond the pool. After all, he accomplished all of that by 1989, when he officially retired from competitions at the age of 29. Now, at 55, he is mentoring and advising a new generation of divers, as well as speaking on HIV/AIDS, dyslexia — which he struggled with throughout his younger years — and other issues close to his heart. Louganis survived periods of emotional, sexual and substance abuses and a broken leg that ended his initial dream of being an Olympic gymnast — which drove a suicide attempt.
But the confluence of several events in the late 1980s changed everything. The head injury during preliminary dives at World Games in 1988, as excruciating as it was to see, became a hot point the following year when he revealed he was gay and HIV-positive. Sponsors dropped him like hot potatoes; only Speedo remained unswerving.
Ironically, his biography, “Breaking the Surface,” changed his life. Released in 1995, it again made him a hero. For his book-signing at Giovanni’s Room here that year, the line went from the store at 12th and Pine streets to the corner of 11th and Spruce. There were reportedly 1,100 people. No other author there ever came close. Across the country, men of all ages were telling him, “You saved my life.”
His openness about everything in the book, from being bullied at school to his coming out and his diagnosis, meant not just a new chapter in his life, but a rebirth of it. He became a symbol of vitality and openness during a time when people were losing friends every few weeks. He was many a gay man’s hero.
But one thing that didn’t change was the AIDS stigma.
“I remember reading the newspaper classifieds back then and seeing HIV-UB2,” said Louganis during our phone interview. The stigma now is also learned from others, like parents or misinformed teachers, he said. “People don’t realize they are missing out on great guys when they limit themselves, when they exclude HIV-positive guys. I was lucky.”
Lucky, Louganis was referring to, as in his marriage to L.A. paralegal Johnny Chaillot in 2013 in Malibu. Chaillot was then and remains HIV-negative. The differences in their HIV statuses was never a problem from the start, he said.
But the AIDS stigma, irrational or uneducated, prevails with many people. And with the approval and use of PrEP, the antiretroviral pre-exposure prophylaxis, Louganis says he is happy that the spread of HIV can be reigned in, but he also has concerns.
“It’s not a silver bullet,” he said. “It’s each person’s own decision to take it or not. You can’t just take it when you think about it or when you think you need to. You have to take it every day. There should be more education with the distribution of PrEP.”
These days he’s in demand as a speaker on many other issues than his diving record. Besides speaking out online and at engagements, the U.S. Olympic hall-of-famer is also a Hollywood go-to guy for comment when the media is looking for reaction to an HIV news event. His celebrity brings its own entourage.
He’s also back in the pool, mentoring young divers who are Olympic hopefuls.
“It’s great working with them,” he said. “There’s as much mentoring going on out of the pool as there is in. You have to have something to do after the years of competing stops and that’s usually at a young age. So we help them learn other skills like physical therapy or being a trainer, things that can be a career after the competitions.”
His tutorage includes 12-year-old Jordan Windle, winner of the 1- and 3-meter 2014 USA Diving Junior National Championships. Windle was born in Cambodia and adopted at 18 months by two men and lives in North Carolina. Louganis wrote the forward to Windle’s co-authored children’s book, “An Orphan No More … the True Story of a Boy.”
Chaillot said about his husband: “To me Louganis means ‘angel masquerading as a person here on earth.’ Greg is authentic, sweet, kind, compassionate … the nicest guy.”
Chaillot also described their relationship as a perfect fit, as Chaillot prefers to stay out of the limelight.
“I do help keep him organized and I pack his suitcase,” he said. And laughing, “By the way, he has a great tux and he looks good in it.”
When confronted with all of the obstacles Louganis surpassed the first half of his life — bullying, dyslexia, abuse, coming out, testing positive, a suicide attempt — it is no wonder he believes in bringing everything out and speaking honestly. In his words, he wants to help everyone he encounters think that “if Greg can do it, I can do it.” And then get busy with living.
Philadelphia FIGHT executive director Jane Shull summed up Louganis this way: “Philadelphia FIGHT is so pleased to be recognizing Greg, who is not only a five-time Olympic diving champion, but also one of the world’s outstanding champions for people living with HIV and for those in the LGBT community. His passion to overcome odds and to fight for equality is what makes him a true role model.”
Amen to that.
Tickets for the 25th-anniversary gala are available at FIGHT.org.
Scott A. Drake is the PGN art director and photographer and hopes to finally get Greg Louganis’ signature at PAT @ Giovanni’s Room only 20 years late.