Australian swimming star Eamon Sullivan is staying in the spotlight as he transitions to his post-swimming life, as a contestant on the upcoming season of Dancing With the Stars.
Sullivan retired earlier this summer at the advice of doctors, after battling a shoulder injury at age 28.
The West Australian reports that Sullivan will take part in the Australian version of the hit ballroom-dancing reality TV series this season, easing his transition to post-retirement life with another challenging physical competition.
Sullivan was pretty open in the article, though, about his nervousness for the competition, claiming he’s not a very good or experienced dancer.
“Usually I am pretty confident at anything I do sport wise,” he said. “I have got co-ordination, but dancing I will happily admit I am terrible at.”
Sullivan joked that his girlfriend Naomi Bass encouraged him to join the show, either because she wanted him to learn how to dance or wanted “to see me look like an idiot on national TV”.
Though Sullivan is playing it cool as to his chances on the show, this would hardly be his first reality TV success. The sprinter won Australia’s Celebrity MasterChef series back in 2009.
His professional dance partner will be Ash-Leigh Hunter. “If you get a good person to teach you how to do it, it probably isn’t as daunting,” Sullivan said. “I think of it as Ash being Patrick Swayze and me being Jennifer Grey from Dirty Dancing.”
Eamon will be good at anything he does because of the focused effort he puts into it. He’s the definition of a renaissance man. You see these same qualities in Natalie Coughlin, Dara Torres, and Tyler Clary.