Gold medallist Michael Klim: ‘My nickname was Lumpy as I was a chubby kid’

Michael Klim is an entrepreneur and head of the Klim Foundation best known for being an Olympic swimming gold medallist. Here, the 47-year-old discusses his adventurous grandmother from the Communist bloc in Poland, the woman who taught him how to swim and how he met his current partner Michelle Owens.

“My partner, Michelle Owen, is a remarkable person. We were both single when we met in a bar in Bali.”Credit: Josh Robenstone

My maternal grandmother, Marianna, was born in Warsaw in 1913. She passed away before I was 10 but I do recall her being a go-getter, as she travelled a lot. She went on cruise ships and went to the United States. For someone from the Communist bloc in Poland at that time to be that adventurous was quite unique. To me, she was this incredibly worldly person.

She came to our house with caramel fudge lollies. My older sister, Anna, and I would sprint to give her a hug, knowing they were in her handbag.

My paternal grandmother, Gabriela, was born in 1922. She spent her last days with us at her home in Gdynia, northern Poland. Even though she had severe cancer, she took so much pride in her appearance. Both my grandmothers were amazing.

Growing up, my father, Wojtek, worked for the Polish consulate. My mother, Ewa, devoted herself to him, in terms of following her husband with his work as we moved to India, Germany and Canada. To this day, she regards family as really important. She has an unbelievably caring nature and unconditional love that is amazing. Throughout my school, sporting career and life after sport I felt this. Mum instilled my values when it comes to family.

I was lucky to have such a diligent, studious older sister in Anna. She played tennis. She was exposed to high-level sport before me, as well as the mental challenges that came with it. I followed her to tournaments and so I got a chance to learn from her experiences.

My 16-year-old son, Rocco, is boarding at Wesley College in Melbourne. Anna, who lives in that city, has become like a second mum to him.

Our family spent five years in Bombay [now Mumbai] after Dad was appointed trade attaché to the Polish consulate in India. Workday mornings, he’d drop Mum, Anna and me at the Breach Candy Club, which is where I met Mrs Bathena. She was a passionate lady who taught me to swim around the same time I learnt to walk.

Klim with (from left) children Rocco, Stella and Frankie and partner Michelle Owen.Credit: Courtesy of Michael Klim

Mrs Bathena was very strict and I think some of my training traits came from her. We stayed in touch and she came to visit me after the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. She became a family friend for life and Mum and my sister have remained pen pals with her.

I was 11 when we moved permanently to Australia. I joined Melbourne Vicentre swimming club where Nicole Livingstone was the squad’s star swimmer. In Germany, I’d watched her on TV as she won a medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

My nickname was Lumpy as I was a chubby kid who couldn’t speak good English. The older boys carried out initiations, but Nicole ensured they didn’t go too far. I felt safe she would back me up. I followed her to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. Nicole was in my squad and helped me become familiar to its elite environment.

I knew breaststroke swimmer Brooke Hanson through junior camps and competitions. We were in a relationship for almost two years. Our sport had brought us together, and she achieved amazing things at the time, which was cool to witness.

I met my ex-wife, Lindy Rama, at Melbourne’s Spring Racing Carnival. We met at a certain period of our life that was right for us and were married for 10 years. We co-parent and our priority is to make our kids, Stella, 18, Rocco, 16, and Frankie, 13, feel loved.

My partner, Michelle Owen, is a remarkable person. We were both single when we met in a bar in Bali: I had three kids and she was living in Australia. We discovered our common loves for travel, art, Bali, music and water.

We had been together for six months when COVID happened. She was to return to Sydney but stayed with me after the border shut. I’d been diagnosed with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy [CIDP], which targets my body’s nerves, and it was getting worse.

Michelle is super loyal, which is one of her strongest traits. She put her professional life in music on hold as I went through my darkest days. My kids adore her and I’m very fortunate she came into my life when she did.

Klim (Hachette Australia) by Michael Klim is out now.

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