Making A Statement In the Pool

"People say, 'When did you choose to be gay?' " Fisette said, sitting in his small County Board office, the day before he left for Chicago. "I didn't choose to be gay. I chose to accept it. If you don't have a choice, it's as natural as being heterosexual is to a straight person. How can a judgment be placed on that?"

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At a lanky 6-foot-1, Fisette still has a swimmer's build. He has kept trim through hours training with teammates from the Arlington Ageless Masters Team and the District of Columbia Aquatics Club, one of the largest gay and lesbian swim teams in the world.

Fisette has been an active member of the masters team since he turned 30, but the trip to Chicago was his first competitive venture since participating in the 1998 Gay Games in Amsterdam. At 42, he was competing with men several years his junior and was disappointed by his performance.

Having turned 50 in February, Fisette was eager to try the games again, this time competing as one of the youngest in a bracket for 50- to 54-year-olds. So in January he began training with vigor, visiting the pool as often as five times a week.

The hard work paid off.

In addition to the gold medal, Fisette brought home two silvers -- in the 100-meter individual medley and 200-meter medley relay -- and a bronze in the 200-meter freestyle relay. He placed fourth in the 100-meter freestyle and fifth in the 400- and 800-meter freestyle and 400-meter freestyle relay.

"I can't suppress my competitiveness," he said. "But in addition to the exhilaration of the competition, there's the frustration of swimming slower than I used to. The fact is, the older you get the slower you get, and the harder it is to keep an edge."

Despite all the years Fisette has spent improving his times in the pool, he still cringes at the thought of being pictured in the newspaper wearing the competitive gear of swimmers worldwide -- the Speedo.

"I'm an elected official!" he said, only half-joking.

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Though the games are mainly about enjoyment, Fisette said there is a broader message that bears repeating.

"The stereotype is that athletes can't be gay," he said. "From Martina Navratilova to Sheryl Swoops to Greg Louganis to any number of world-class athletes -- the few who are willing to be open and honest about who they are -- it's clear that the stereotype is not true."

Although the Gay Games are primarily about inclusion and fun, the competition does draw highly skilled athletes, and officials said world records have been broken at the competition.

Winners are determined differently, depending on the sport. In swimming, for example, racers compete in one heat per event, and their times are ranked by age and gender. In other events, such as softball, teams are divided into divisions and then advance to the finals based on wins and losses.

Fisette, who has participated in four Gay Games, beginning in 1986, said he still gets a thrill out of the opening ceremonies. This year, athletes marched into Soldier Field wearing matching colors or uniforms -- Fisette and other athletes from the Washington region wore red polo shirts and khaki pants. Fisette said he was pleasantly surprised to run into an Arlington County employee during the procession. She told him that she was there to compete in sand volleyball, teamed with a straight friend.

"The ultimate goal here is to not have a Gay Games," Fisette said. "But we're a long way from that, from a time when your sexual orientation is not an issue, when the world provides all the support and encouragement that people need to be who they are."

So the games, he said, go on.