Beyond the laundry list of accomplishments in the pool, Crothers has been a standout in esports, nearly reaching the peak of domestic competition in both Counter-Strike and VALORANT. Since those lonely days, Crothers has become an advocate for kids who believe they don’t have a voice in the world. All he wanted in life was to have friends, to be acknowledged, and he did all he could to find that fulfillment. The days where he wondered why people had to be so cruel.
He remembered the days when he would have trouble walking down the steep stairs at school due to his condition, his classmates laughing at him as he tripped over himself and came crashing down to the ground. That message took Crothers back to his younger days before he found things in life that impassioned him. “If Rowan can do it, I can do it too,” the boy told his mother.Ĭrothers dropped his phone, tears unwillingly welling up in his eyes. After seeing Crothers win the race and receive his gold medal, the boy felt enough confidence to ask his mom if he could try riding a bike for the first time in his life. It was from a mother who had watched the Paralympics with her young son, who had cerebral palsy like Crothers. But as Crothers scrolled through the exorbitant amount of photo tags, well wishes and articles about himself, his eye caught one that made him freeze.
Congratulations from people around the world, a majority of whom he had never met before. Texts from childhood classmates that he hadn’t heard of in years. When he awoke hours later, an avalanche of messages awaited him on his phone.
Finally, as the sun caught the sky, he made it back to his room for rest at the Paralympic Village, situated on the waterfront district of Tokyo, the famed Rainbow Bridge in the distance as he dozed off. “You don’t sleep after winning a gold medal,” Crothers said. The hours following the race were a mixture of bliss and adrenaline. The kind and humorous boy always thinking about the person next to him, now in the imposing frame of a 6-foot-5 man. A “gentle giant,” one of his friends said of the 23-year-old. The next second, as the pool divider gave way and Crothers tumbled backward into the pool with a toothy grin, the other side of his personality shined. The celebration showcased the competitive side of Crothers – the fierce, relentless determination to overcome any demanding obstacle. The victor in the Men’s 50m Freestyle – S10 event climbed atop one of the pool’s lane dividers, screaming towards the cameras in celebration as his parents watched from home in Australia. He’d reached a goal Crothers set for himself at 10 years old, sitting alongside his mom watching the TV: a gold medal in the Paralympic Games. After more than a decade of daily training, he’d done it.
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The night prior, the former VALORANT pro emerged from the pool at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Japan with his arms outstretched and a shocked look on his face. The best moment of Rowan Crothers’ life came a day after winning his gold medal.