The Australian ex-swimmer who turned his life around after being addicted to ice and living on the streets to competing at the Olympics

He was called ‘the next Ian Thorpe’.

Instead, a burned-out Daniel Smith became a homeless ice cream addict.

The swimming prodigy emerged from a five-year drug hell to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, only to have his dreams shattered once again.

The remarkable journey taught Smith the importance of mental health.

He has been clean and sober for more than ten years and hopes to share this lesson in the run-up to the Olympic Games in Paris.

“It hasn’t been an easy journey,” Smith told AAP.

“I want to help other athletes avoid what I went through.”

At age 13, Smith broke the age record in the 200-meter freestyle, which had been set by Olympic champion Thorpe.

The following year he won no fewer than eight gold medals at the national age-group championships.

It seemed like the possibilities were limitless.

Instead, it collapsed and burned.

“Everyone knew me as ‘the next Ian Thorpe’,” he said.

‘I actually had no life outside of sports.

‘I was lost and didn’t really have a sense of identity. Drugs gave me a temporary escape and one thing led to another.”

Smith lost his way after training ‘too hard and too young’.

“They say the period in which you can organize an Olympic Games and realize your dream is 18 to 24 years,” he said.

‘I trained like I was 20, even though I was only 13. It was always expected that I would continue to improve myself.

‘Then I started hanging out with the wrong crowd at school, which allowed me to escape the limelight. That’s how I got into the drug world.’

First he started drinking, then party drugs.

“I was always looking for that next thing,” Smith said.

‘Most top athletes don’t do things half-heartedly – and I went all in.’

It was a slippery slope.

At 18, he was an “out of control” drug addict.

“Unfortunately, it turned me into someone I should never have been. I became really mean, a criminal, really,” he said.

‘It seemed like I had tried everything – psychologists, doctors – to get off the drugs, but no matter what I did, I never succeeded.

“It wasn’t until I hit rock bottom that I was able to get my life back on track.”

The low point came when Smith ended up on the streets after his exhausted parents kicked him out of their Gold Coast home.

“It wasn’t because my parents didn’t love me. They just didn’t know what to do after trying everything,” he said.

Smith had another crack at rehab — and this time, something clicked.

“I had a natural talent for swimming, but I felt like I had wasted my life,” he said.

‘My friends went to prison and mental institutions. Some of them have died.

“I got into trouble and it was like something hit me and said, ‘What are you doing?’”

In an epiphany, Smith experienced a “flashback of all the things I had done.”

‘I had a lot of regrets. I looked at myself in the mirror and thought, ‘look at the mess you’ve created, now you have to own it.’

“I happened to be in a very safe rehabilitation program, met the right person at the right time and got the help I needed to rebuild.”

A rejuvenated Smith launched what would become a stunning swimming comeback.

He won bronze at the 2015 world titles before finally realizing his Olympic dream and earning selection for the Rio Games.

But after Smith found his feet, he experienced an unexpected event. This would be his only appearance on the Olympic podium.

“During the Olympics, many athletes only get one day in their entire lives to do well, which can shatter dreams,” he said.

‘So the Olympics can be a sore point, and unfortunately for me it was.

‘I didn’t reach the level I could and never had the chance to do it again.’

Smith left Rio without a medal after his 4x200m freestyle relay team finished fourth.

‘Does my past have anything to do with that, because I missed so many years out of the water? Yes, I believe so,” Smith said of his deployment in Rio.

‘Unfortunately I didn’t quite do what I wanted to do.

“But it was still a great experience. I can still say I went to the Olympics.”

Despite everything, Smith focused on the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

However, they were delayed by twelve months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to him retiring from competitive swimming.

Smith hopes his story inspires athletes as they prepare for the Paris Olympics.

Mental health and wellbeing will be a priority at this year’s Olympics, following champion gymnast Simone Biles’ very public battle in Tokyo.

Initiatives for athletes in Paris include a 24-hour helpline in more than 70 languages, a safe space in the Olympic village to prepare mentally and an AI system that flags threats on social media platforms to prevent online abuse.

Smith said the steps were encouraging, but some athletes dealing with burnout may need more.

He said he is committed to removing the stigma that sometimes attaches to seeking professional help among professional athletes.

“As an elite athlete, your life is in the spotlight and you are closely monitored,” said Smith, an ambassador for The Banyans Healthcare clinic in Brisbane.

‘I would encourage anyone who wants to maintain their mental health to seek external support.

‘But it’s up to the individual to figure out what support they need around them and what works best for them.’

Smith is now married and happy, proof that recovery is possible with the right help.

“I got my life back on track,” he said.

When asked how he now feels about his troubled past, Smith replied, “It’s like a nightmare.”