Michael Klim has revealed that his biggest battle has been mental, not physical, as he grapples with a rare autoimmune disorder which left him unable to walk.
The Aussie swimming legend, 46, was diagnosed with the neurological disorder chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) in 2020.
This weekend, he told The Sunday Project that the ‘mental toughness’ he had as an athlete is something he had to rediscover to cope with his physical ailments.
‘Pretty much all athletes are taught physically, mentally you push on. Even after sport, I adopted that same mindset,’ he said.
‘For me to be more vulnerable and listening to my body and my emotion is something that I’m still learning to do better and something that’s helped me a lot.
He added: ‘The biggest thing I had to overcome was accepting the new identity. I’m still in a lot of people’s eyes the swimmer guy. And I used to rely on my physicality to give me a lot of mental toughness.
‘Now that physicality is actually gone, I need to find other mental strength to overcome physical disabilities.’
Michael went on to say that as his illness progresses, he has grown to value time with his family above all else.
Michael Klim (pictured) has revealed that his biggest battle has been mental, not physical, as he grapples with a rare autoimmune disorder which left him unable to walk
‘It’s actually changed my perspective on life. I really sort of value the time I have with my kids a lot more than I used to,’ he said.
‘It’s brought my family much closer together. It’s reignited a lot of friendships and relationships that I had in my life.’
The former swimmer was on The Project to promote his new biography, KLIM, which is in stores on August 28.
Michael recently shared the devastating details of his ‘tough’ four-year battle with CIDP.
The former Olympian has spoken openly about the challenging diagnosis, which saw him lose the ability to walk in just six months and left him bedridden.
The swimming legend, 46, was diagnosed with the neurological disorder chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) in 2020 (he is previously pictured in hospital)
CIDP causes the body to attack its own tissue – the myelin sheaths which insulate and protect the nerves – causing weakness and lack of feeling in the arms and legs.
Klim has detailed his ‘tough’ four-year battle with the disorder and spoke about the mental challenge of going from being an Olympian to not being able to walk.
Speaking at Drew Barrymore and Wanderlust’s True North event in Sydney, Klim explained how his leg muscles began ‘disappearing’ as he deteriorated.
‘I had a lot of neural symptoms early on – most people would get cold feet at nighttime or you’d get a tingling on your quad – but I started getting these random feelings in my legs and they started progressing and getting worse,’ he shared.
‘The biggest thing I had to overcome was accepting the new identity. I’ll still in a lot of people’s eyes the swimmer guy. And I used to rely on my physicality to give me a lot of mental toughness,’ he said
‘Towards the end, my legs would give way on me when I was walking back. All my other aches and pains started popping up even more, affecting my everyday lifestyle from my ankle to my back.
‘I just almost got tipped over the edge, and within six months, I could not walk. I lost all functionality from the knees down, my muscles were literally just disappearing.
‘As many races as I wanted to do, nothing was making them go and activating those muscles.’
Klim – who is now able to walk with the assistance of a cane – admitted the diagnosis also took a mental toll as he struggled to come to terms with his physical symptoms.
‘It was really confronting mentally, not just physically,’ he explained while speaking to press ahead of actress Drew’s talk event at the ICC Theatre.
Klim sys he now appreciates his family more than ever. He was previously married to Lindy Klim and they share kids Stella, 17, Rocco, 15 and Frankie, 12. Since their 2016 split, Klim started dating Michelle while Lindy married Adam Ellis (all pictured together)
‘I could look down and see these sticks hanging off my body, which for someone that used to pride myself on my physical ability, that was taken away within six months.’
Klim undergoes rehabilitation including plasma treatment, which has helped him to become more mobile by reducing inflammation and restoring nerve damage.
‘The last two years have been OK, but the first two were pretty tough,’ he confessed as he discussed the challenges of being diagnosed amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
He also praised his girlfriend Michelle Owen for her support over the past four years as he admitted it has been a difficult journey.
Klim first unveiled his romance with DJ Michelle in October 2019, three years after his split from his model ex-wife Lindy Klim in 2016 after 10 years of marriage.
Balinese princess Lindy has since married property developer Adam Ellis and the pair welcomed a daughter Goldie together in 2017.
Klim and Lindy remain on good terms, often spending time together with their new partners while co-parenting their three children – Stella, 17, Rocco, 15 and Frankie, 12.
Swimmer Klim is arguably best known for his huge triumph at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, where he took home gold for Australia.
In the 4x200m freestyle relay, Klim sent crowds wild when he broke the world record in the first leg of the race, setting his team up for triumph.
Speaking at Drew Barrymore and Wanderlust’s True North event in Sydney, Klim detailed the mental toll that came with the challenging diagnosis
Alongside Ian Thorpe, Chris Fydler and Ashley Callus, Klim took the gold medal home, with the previously unbeaten Americans instead nabbing the silver.
Speaking about the landmark achievement on Friday, Klim described the world-famous moment as one of the biggest challenges in his swimming career.
‘That was the biggest challenge we could have had, taking on the Americans, who have never lost the event,’ he shared.
Klim, who has won six Olympic medals across three Games, admitted he was a huge overthinker throughout his career and relied on meditation to focus on his races.
‘I was very much an overthinker, I’d run over the race in my mind maybe 100 times or more,’ he shared.
The highly-regarded athlete retired from competitive swimming in 2007 and runs a successful swim school business in Bali.
He relocated to Indonesia with his girlfriend Michelle after he was first diagnosed with CIDP, and he is now an ambassador for Australian Red Cross Lifeblood.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk