Michael Klim has revealed that his biggest struggle is mental, not physical. He is battling a rare autoimmune disease that leaves him unable to walk.
The 46-year-old Australian swimming legend was diagnosed with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) in 2020.
This weekend, he told The Sunday Project that he had to rediscover the “mental toughness” he had as an athlete to cope with his physical ailments.
“Almost all athletes learn physically, mentally you continue. Even after sports, I’ve adopted that same mindset,” he said.
‘I’m still learning to be more vulnerable and to listen better to my body and emotions. That has helped me a lot.
He added: ‘The biggest thing I had to overcome was accepting the new identity. I’m still the swimmer in the eyes of a lot of people. And I relied on my physicality to give me a lot of mental toughness.
‘Now that I am physically unable to do this anymore, I have to find other mental strength to overcome the physical limitations.’
Michael went on to say that as his illness progressed, he found himself valuing time with his family more.
Michael Klim (pictured) has revealed his biggest struggle is mental, not physical, as he battles a rare autoimmune disease that leaves him unable to walk
“It’s really changed my perspective on life. I appreciate 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 rekindled 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 hits stores August 28.
Michael recently shared the devastating details of his “tough” four-year battle with CIDP.
The former Olympian has spoken openly about the difficult diagnosis, which left him unable to walk and bedridden within six months.
The 46-year-old swimming legend was diagnosed with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) in 2020 (he is pictured earlier in the hospital)
In CIDP, the body attacks its own tissue: the myelin sheaths that insulate and protect the nerves. This leads to weakness and numbness in the arms and legs.
Klim described in detail his “tough” four-year battle with the disorder and spoke of the mental challenge of going from an Olympian to someone who can no longer walk.
At Drew Barrymore and Wanderlust’s True North event in Sydney, Klim explained how his leg muscles started to ‘disappear’ as he deteriorated.
‘I had a lot of nerve problems at first. Most people get cold feet or a tingling feeling in their thighs at night. But I started to get these random feelings in my legs more and more often, which got worse and worse,’ he says.
“The biggest thing I had to overcome was accepting the new identity. I’m still the swimmer in the eyes of many people. And I relied on my physicality to make me mentally strong,” he said.
‘Towards the end, my legs were giving out on me when I walked back. All my other aches and pains were even more pronounced, affecting my daily lifestyle, from my ankle to my back.
‘I was almost pushed over the edge and within six months I couldn’t walk. I lost all functionality from my knees down, my muscles literally disappeared.
‘No matter how many competitions I wanted to do, nothing helped to activate the muscles.’
Klim, who can now walk with the help of a cane, admitted that the diagnosis also took a mental toll as he struggled to cope with his physical symptoms.
“It was really a mental confrontation, not just physical,” he explained while speaking to the press ahead of actress Drew’s reading event at the ICC Theatre.
Klim sys he values his family now more than ever. He was previously married to Lindy Klim and they have children Stella, 17, Rocco, 15, and Frankie, 12. Since their divorce in 2016, Klim began dating Michelle while Lindy married Adam Ellis (all pictured together)
“I looked down and saw these sticks hanging from my body. For someone who used to pride himself on his physical prowess, that was gone within six months.”
Klim is undergoing rehabilitation, including plasma treatment, which has helped him become more mobile by reducing inflammation and repairing nerve damage.
“The last two years have been okay, but the first two were pretty tough,” he admitted when speaking about the challenges of being diagnosed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He also praised his girlfriend Michelle Owen for her support over the past four years, admitting it had been a difficult time.
Klim first went public with his romance with DJ Michelle in October 2019, three years after he split from his ex-model wife Lindy Klim in 2016 after 10 years of marriage.
Balinese princess Lindy is now married to property developer Adam Ellis and in 2017 they had a daughter together, Goldie.
Klim and Lindy remain close and spend time with their new partners often, while they jointly care for their three children: Stella, 17, Rocco, 15, and Frankie, 12.
Swimmer Klim is probably best known for his huge victory at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where he won gold for Australia.
Klim thrilled the crowd when he broke the world record in the 4x200m freestyle relay in the first leg of the race, helping his team to victory.
Speaking at Drew Barrymore and Wanderlust’s True North event in Sydney, Klim described the mental toll of dealing with the challenging diagnosis
Klim, along with Ian Thorpe, Chris Fydler and Ashley Callus, took home the gold medal, while the previously undefeated Americans took silver.
Klim described Friday’s milestone achievement as one of the biggest challenges of his swimming career.
“That was the biggest challenge we could face, competing against the Americans, who have never lost the event,” he said.
Klim, who won six Olympic medals in three Games, admitted that he thought a lot throughout his career and meditated to focus on his competitions.
“I was thinking way too much, I was going over the race in my mind maybe 100 times or more,” he said.
The highly regarded athlete retired from competitive swimming in 2007 and now runs a successful swimming school in Bali.
After he was first diagnosed with CIDP, he moved to Indonesia with his girlfriend Michelle and is now an ambassador for the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood.