Mark Foster, the former competitive swimmer who won 51 major international medals, including six world titles and two Commonwealth golds, looks back on his life and career in a candid interview. Foster represented the UK at five Olympic Games, broke eight world records, and now works as a BBC commentator.
Born in Billericay, Essex, in 1970, Foster grew up with his two older sisters and a mother who was the driving force behind his early swimming ambitions. "Every morning she would get up at 5am, make me breakfast at 5.15am, put me in the car at 5.30am and take me to the pool," he recalls.
His speed in the pool was sparked by an unlikely source: the film Jaws. After seeing it at age six, he would imagine a giant shark chasing him through the water. "While it was traumatic, it did make me a sprinter," he says.
Foster struggled with his identity from a young age. "Every subliminal message I received about being gay was that it was bad," he says. A comment about Sean Connery's looks in Thunderball was met with shock from his sisters, making him realize his feelings would be difficult to navigate.
His rebellious streak led to trouble at school — he was asked to leave Millfield after a falling out with a coach, and later expelled from Kelly College for being "naughty." Despite this, he broke the British 50m freestyle record at 15.
After his first Olympics in 1988, Foster worked as a courier, groundsman, lifeguard, and glazier, believing his swimming career was over. But meeting his first boyfriend Vince at 21 changed everything. "He said: 'I'll support you for a year. You focus on swimming — let's see where it takes you,'" Foster says. That support put his career back on track.
Foster came out to his mother in the 1990s, but remained closeted publicly until 2017, when he decided to speak to the press. "No one dropped me; no one turned their back on me," he says. "It was a huge relief — as I was finally free to have an open, normal conversation about my life."
Now 56, Foster reflects on his double life and the constant vigilance of keeping secrets. His memoir, My Double Life, is out now. "Life in general is less chaotic than it used to be," he says. "All that's the same is that I still don't take life seriously."