Stanford sophomore and USA National Team-er Jack LeVant penned a personal Instagram post Wednesday, opening up about his recent struggles with mental health that led to his absence from the 2019 NCAA Championships in March and this week’s World University Games.
“I’ve been struggling with mental health issues both in and out of the pool. I suffer from depression and anxiety,” LeVant wrote. “There were times when I thought I would never swim again.” He announced he was pulling out of NCAAs with “unforeseen medical complications” March 23, and neither LeVant, nor the school, nor USA Swimming offered further comment on the matter in the interim.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzdzj-iAF8P/?igshid=hjvlgxcn1w28
LeVant confirmed that he will join Team USA in South Korea for the 2019 FINA World Championships at the end of the month. He was a 1:46.39 in the 200 free at US Nationals last summer, which was, and remains, his best time. He’s raced a pair of 200 meter frees so far in 2019, with times of 1:54.33 and 1:50.60 on June 9th and June 22nd, respectively.
The Texas native LeVant included in his post a reference to Eva Merrell, who in March shared with SwimSwam her own battle with physical and mental health that kept her out of the pool for her freshman year at the University of Georgia, and ultimately led to her going home to San Diego (she has since announced she is back training in Georgia). LeVant also cited Harvard’s Simon Lamar, who also posted on Instagram in response to Merrell sharing her story, opening up about his own experiences with depression and anxiety.
Wishing Jack all the best – been watching him since he was an Age Group swimmer at Fox Valley Swim Team in IL. Jack, I am sure Coach Dave will always be there for you if you need to reach out!
Good luck Jack! You will beat this!
Simone Biles has the following ….adhd , anxiety , post sexual abuse problems requiring highly frequent psychologist sessions , continual physical pain & social media fatigue .& withdrawal . Still she wil likely win multiple gold medals at worlds & olympics .
A majority of ppl wpuld say ‘ Why continue ? How many medals do you need to keep you from the abyss ?
A truly stong young man who has been a terrific role model. An example for so many that came before him and all those to follow.
Godspeed young man!
The USA coaches are going to evaluate his fitness to compete in the relay. At the last WCs, the USA qualified 7th for the final. It’s not the strongest event, and they may have to leave him off if another swimmer is faster.
Of course it’s great that he’s feeling better and is resuming his swimming career. He’s got a lot of natural talent for the sport.
I thought with the new rules a nation is required to use all of its relay only swimmers and cannot leave out a swimmer that was brought to the meet. ??
I understand your point, but this post is not the time or place. Have a little courtesy man
Many athletes are silently fighting this battle… Thank you for your honesty and courage to come forward about it. Best of luck this summer !
Jeez, looks like he lost a significant amount of weight. Rooting for him this summer and many years to come.