University of California – Berkeley sophomore Cassidy Bayer is taking a break from swimming, according to her Instagram post from yesterday. From the post’s caption, which is pasted below in full, it appears she is seeking treatment for her eating disorder.
“So as I ‘ring in the New Year’ I will press pause and take a step back from the sport I love to seek care for my eating disorder and the voices within my head that drive it.”
Bayer was a finalist at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials in both butterfly events, just missing the 2016 Olympic Team with a third-place finish in the 200 at 2:08.68. She was also 58.35 to take fourth in the 100.
A few months after Olympic Trials, Bayer suffered a torn meniscus during a powderpuff football game. The surgery and recovery took her out of the entirety of her junior year of high school, and she has not yet been able to get back to her best times in butterfly.
As a freshman at Cal, Bayer swam a lot of mid-distance freestyle and butterfly, and has hit lifetime bests in 2019 in the 500 yard freestyle and the 400 meter freestyle. At the 2019 Pac 12 Championships, Bayer qualified for NCAAs in the 200 fly (1:55.90) and touched seventh in the A-final. She also made the C-final in the 500 free, hitting a best (4:45.31). At the 2019 NCAA Championships, Bayer made the B-final of the 200 fly to score two points for Cal.
Bayer competed during the first semester of the 2019-20 season, racing two meets early in the season and then racing at the 2019 Minnesota Invitational. That was her most recent meet to date.
BAYER’S FULL INSTAGRAM CAPTION
“you’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think” -Christopher Robin
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I was first introduced to this quote by my age group swim coach Jeff King. Jeff would always use these magical words to remind me of my bravery, strength, and wisdom during times I doubted my physical/mental capabilities needed to reach the goals I set for myself. Within no time Robins quote became a favorite of mine because it repeatedly helped reassure me of my mental and physical strength both in and out of the pool. Cheesy? Yes…but oh well🤷🏼♀️! I bought into those inspiring words when I would struggle in order to accomplish the goals I set for myself. Yet, as we grow our mindsets change and unfortunately most obstacles that arise in life can’t be fixed by moving quotes. I wish.
•••
Life becomes a little more complicated then it was as a kid. We perceive things differently, we make our own decisions, and unexpected obstacles arise! For me, the obstacle I have battled for quite sometime has left me constantly unsure of my bravery, strength, and wisdom.
•••
For sometime now I have simply fought myself and no one else. I have attempted to continuously use Robins motivational words to reach the unstoppable and competitive self I believe I was as a younger girl. However, Robins wise words and the meaning behind them have slowly disappeared in the sea of voices in my head.
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That being said, motivational quotes can’t solve my problems or anyone’s for that matter. But, learning how to take action by asking for additional help can.
So as I “ring in the New Year” I will press pause and take a step back from the sport I love to seek care for my eating disorder and the voices within my head that drive it. In doing so, I hope Robin’s wise words will come back to me during treatment. •••
As I go through this process I know I have the love and support from my family, friends, teammates, coach’s, and doctors and that’s really all I need! SO, to conclude this horrifically long caption…I will be taking a break from social media:)happy new year my friends❤️ & as always go bears🐻
Who downvotes these comments?
Health is the most important. All the best Miss Bayer.
You are an amazing young lady Cassidy. Your Bear Family is with you through your journey to becoming healthy and more powerful mentally than you have ever been. Roll on Little Bear!
Great decision. Wishing you the best through all this.
I’m glad to see that she’s thinking of her health first, it’s so easy to push self-care off because “NCAAs are right around the corner” or “Trials won’t wait for anyone, work now, rest later” etc. I think the fact that swimming is numerically-centered attracts the kind of people who fixate on numbers, and unfortunately that neurosis can combine with the typical self-consciousness of youth and the large amount of exposed skin inherent to the sport to manifest as a body dysmorphic disorder or an eating disorder. Then that fixation on numbers turns to the scale, calories, sizes, etc.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the sport of swimming and what it did for my life, but these are things… Read more »
Sounds like a smart decision from a strong and brave girl. Congrats to her for putting her health first and wish her well.
This Golden Bear sends love & mercy to that Golden Bear… go, Cassidy!
I can tell by reading her post that this woman has tremendous willpower & will conquer/destroy her adversary!!