Rising swim star Isaac Cooper opens up on his mental health battle

Sent home from the Commonwealth Games, rising star Isaac Cooper admits his mental health has been bad but he is coming out of the darkness thanks to his passions outside of swimming.

Rising Australian swim star Isaac Cooper has always worn his heart on his sleeve.

Whether he’s winning medals in the pool, or indulging in his new love of mixed martial arts, Cooper has never tried to hide his emotions.

This includes opening up about his private battles with his mental health.

That wasn’t always the case. There was a time, not so long ago, when Cooper kept his darkest secrets to himself, notably last year, when he was sent home from the Australian training camp in Europe before the Commonwealth Games for reasons that have never really been disclosed.

Swimming Australia said it was for misusing medications but Cooper has since said it was related to his mental health, which he now wants to talk more about.

This week, after safely booking his place in the Australian team for next month’s world championships in Fukuoka, Japan, Cooper revealed that he has something he wants to get off his chest.

Isaac Cooper has opened up on his private mental health battles. Picture Delly Carr.

“My mental health this year has not been good, it‘s been very, very bad actually,” he said. “But the last two months I‘ve really come out of it.

“I‘m going to elaborate more. I have a plan for what I’m going to say on my Instagram soon. I’m going to really come out about what’s happened, what I’ve done to change, and how it looks to change the future.”

Still just 19, Cooper has already given some insights into how he’s changing his life – in and out of the water.

He was once considered one of the alpha dogs of the swim team, along with Kyle Chalmers, Matt Temple, Zac Incerti and Grayson Bell, but keeps a lower profile these days.

He has also implemented a radical change to the way he trains. Like most elite swimmers, he’s churned through thousands of laps to cut fractions of seconds off his time.

But he’s ditched that approach for a new method, similar to what freestyle sprinter Cam McEvoy has.

“I chose to ignore what a lot of professionals were telling me to do,” Cooper said.

“The secret of swimming faster is swimming less. So I‘ve maybe done 14 kilometres a week for the last three months.”

Isaac Cooper is keeping more of a lower profile in the Australian team than he once did. Picture: William West./AFP

Instead of spending most of his time in the water, Cooper has kept himself fit by indulging in his other sporting passions, including tennis, surfing and MMA, though not everyone is as enthusiastic about his choices.

“I would love to fight but my parents have encouraged me not to,” Cooper said.

“They have said they will not support me at all if I choose to get in the ring. But I think it‘s so good for general fitness. I think also part of being a man is being able to defend yourself if the situation ever came. And I know that if I was in that spot, I probably wouldn‘t be able to defend myself so I just wanted to learn that, plus it’s good for aerobic fitness, good for all around muscle toning and endurance and just a good skill to learn in general.”

So far, his new approach is working with his winning time for the 100m backstroke at the Australian trials just outside his lifetime best.

“It is so stressful because I‘m doing what everyone else is telling me not to do,” he said.

“I really have to trust myself and trust my relationship with my coach in this. I was nearly in tears before that race just because I was so overwhelmed and I had no idea what was going to happen.

Isaac Cooper has taken up MMA in his spare time. Picture: Patrick Woods.

Cooper after winning silver in the 50m backstroke at the world championships. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

“And when I touched the wall, I was going to get overwhelmed, nearly in tears, because what I‘ve done has worked. All the people who said: ‘This is not going to work, don’t do this.’ They’re all wrong. And my instincts were right. I’m so grateful that I was able to make that decision.”

Cooper won a silver in the medley relay for Australia at last year’s world championships in Budapest and was one of the favourites for the Commonwealth Games until he was sent home.

The mystery around his departure rekindled memories of the infamous Stilnox scandal that rocked the Australian team ahead of the 2012 Olympics in London but team officials said there were no problems in the camp.

And while Cooper did not say which medications he had used, he clarified they were not banned substances.

“The decision made to send me home was based on my behaviour and mental health and was made in my best ­interest and that of the team competing at the Commonwealth Games,” he said at the time. “My misuse of medication was not banned substances. It was ultimately my wellbeing and mental health that resulted in me going home. It was difficult to accept in myself that I needed to ­address my mental health but I believe that it is an ever present issue in all communities, including that of a professional athlete. I am grateful to Swimming Australia for helping to identify an issue and offering their support and resources to help me.”

Originally published as Rising swim star Isaac Cooper opens up on his mental health battle