(EDGE) Mark Foster, an Olympic British swimmer who set several world records, came out as gay in a new interview with Winq.

The 47-year-old athlete, who is also a TV personality for the BBC, confessed he now wants to live his life more "authentically." 

"It always seemed to me that I had this secret undercurrent that was my secret life," he told Winq. "So what I showed people on the surface was Mark the swimmer, Mark the bloke, and beneath the surface was this other story. And so now I want to be a bit more authentic."

He added:

When I was on the team I was Mark the Swimmer, I didn't want [my sexuality] to get in the way of that. I stood on the block and it's like, right, you've got to be a pillar here, and I think I just got used to not showing my competitors any weakness."

Foster also spoke with the Guardian about coming out. He said his friends and family knew about his sexuality, adding he wasn't in a "dark place."

"I've lived an openly gay life to my friends and family. But I always hid it as a swimmer," he said.

Click here to read Foster's full interview with Winq. And click here to read his interview with the Guard