But like some other athletes on Colorado's team to the Gay Games, LeVasseur says he re-dedicated himself to the sport when he needed a turning point in his life.
LeVasseur, who is now 46, spent much of his adult life in music education. He was a choir director at Denver School of the Arts from 1992 to 1998, and music director at First Presbyterian Church in Littleton from 1994 to 2009. But he had some rough years after he left school, and he got out of shape.
When LeVasseur was 40 years old, he developed type-1 diabetes, which is not associated with weight or lifestyle. Unlike type-2 diabetes, type-1 strikes totally at random and never goes away. It requires careful maintenance and a healthy lifestyle. LeVasseur says he must now inject himself with insulin five times a day to keep his diabetes under control.
That's what made him realize that he needed to get back in to swimming - one of the key things to staying healthy with diabetes is exercise.
"Working out every day allows you to control your diabetes better," LeVasseur says.
In 1992, LeVasseur was one of the seven men who founded SQUID, or Swimming Queers United in Denver, in order to prepare for the Gay Games in 1994, and the team went to New York City to compete.
"It was a tremendous experience," LeVasseur said. "You could ride the subway and see people with Gay Games shirts."
LeVasseur got back in touch with the team in 2004, and this time they hired him as coach. He is now a professional athlete, teaching swimming lessons and coaching. This summer he'll return to the Gay Games for the first time since 1994.
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Read the full profile at Out Front Colorado HERE.
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