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The Atlantic doesn't care who you love. It slaps against your chest with the same briny indifference whether you're straight, gay, or still figuring it out. That's what Lucas learned during his years as an open-water swimmer in Rio de Janeiro, the ocean was the first place he felt truly free.
Every morning before sunrise, Lucas would slip into the dark waters off Copacabana Beach, his body cutting through the waves while the city behind him began to stir. The chlorinated pools of his childhood had given way to something wilder, more honest. Out there, with nothing but saltwater and sky, he could finally breathe.
The Weight of Expectations
Growing up in a traditional Brazilian family meant Lucas knew the script by heart. Get good grades. Make the national swimming team. Find a nice girl. Settle down. Have kids. The usual playbook that doesn't leave much room for deviation: or for boys who look at their male teammates a little too long in the locker room.
He'd tried, honestly. There was Camila in university, sweet and patient, who probably knew before he did that something wasn't quite clicking. Then Marina, who got frustrated when his eyes wandered to the lifeguard instead of her during beach days. The relationships always felt like treading water: exhausting and ultimately going nowhere.
Swimming, though. Swimming made sense.
Finding Freedom in Open Water
The transition from pool to ocean happened gradually. Competitive swimming had been Lucas's identity since he was eight years old: the smell of chlorine, the echo of coaches' whistles, the rigid structure of lanes and times. But after he aged out of competitive circuits in his mid-twenties, the walls of the pool started feeling more like a cage than a home.
Open-water swimming offered something different. No lanes. No times to beat except your own. Just you against the elements, navigating currents and waves, reading the rhythm of the sea. The Atlantic off Rio's coast could be moody and unpredictable: mirror-calm one morning, churning and aggressive the next. It demanded presence, awareness, a kind of honesty that Lucas found himself craving in other areas of his life.
He joined a group of open-water enthusiasts who met at dawn, swimmers of all ages and backgrounds who shared a love for the challenge. That's where he met André.
The Turning Point
André was older by a few years, with sun-weathered skin and an easy laugh that carried across the waves. He'd been swimming these waters for a decade, knew every current and sandbar, could read the weather by the color of the sky at five in the morning. He took Lucas under his wing, teaching him the subtleties of ocean swimming that no pool could prepare you for.
They'd swim out past the breakers together, sometimes in silence, sometimes talking about everything and nothing. André had a partner: had been with his boyfriend Miguel for seven years. He spoke about it casually, the way you'd mention what you had for breakfast, and that casualness was revolutionary to Lucas.
"You think too much, man," André told him one morning after Lucas had fought against a current instead of working with it. "The ocean teaches you to accept what is, not what you think should be."
It was advice about swimming. It was advice about everything.
Coming Out to the Waves First
Lucas came out to himself before he came out to anyone else. Floating on his back in the Atlantic, watching Cristo Redentor stand guard over the city from Corcovado mountain, he finally let himself think the words: I'm gay.
The sky didn't fall. The waves kept rolling. A pelican dove for fish nearby, completely unconcerned with Lucas's revelation. The relief was so intense he started laughing, swallowing a mouthful of saltwater, coughing and laughing and crying all at once while bobbing in the ocean like a buoy.
André swam over, concerned. "You okay, brother?"
"I'm gay," Lucas said, testing the words aloud for the first time. They came out easier than he expected, carried away on the morning breeze.
André grinned. "Congratulations. Want a medal or should we just keep swimming?"
They kept swimming. But everything had changed.
Romance in the City of Samba
Telling his family was harder. His mother cried: not angry tears, but worried ones. His father went silent for a week. His sister hugged him so tight he thought his ribs might crack, whispering, "Finally, you big idiot. We've been waiting for you to figure it out."
But Rio's LGBTQ+ community welcomed him with open arms. The city that had always felt electric and alive suddenly revealed hidden layers: queer beaches, gay-friendly bars in Lapa, Pride celebrations that turned the streets into rainbows of celebration. This is where MM romance and gay love stories weren't just something you read about on Read with Pride: they were happening all around him.
He met Thiago at a beach volleyball game in Ipanema, on the stretch of sand known colloquially as "Farme de Amoedo": Rio's unofficial gay beach. Thiago was terrible at volleyball but had the most infectious smile Lucas had ever seen. He was a marine biologist, studying coral reef restoration, and when Lucas mentioned he was an open-water swimmer, Thiago's eyes lit up.
"I've always wanted to learn," Thiago said. "But I'm kind of scared of the ocean. Isn't that ridiculous for a marine biologist?"
"I'll teach you," Lucas offered, surprising himself with his boldness. "I'm pretty good with scared beginners."
That was the beginning of everything.
Teaching Love and Swimming
Teaching Thiago to swim in open water became an act of intimacy. Lucas held him as he learned to float, their bodies close in the buoyant saltwater. He showed him how to read the waves, how to breathe in rhythm, how to trust the ocean to hold you up if you relaxed into it.
"It's like love," Thiago said one morning after completing his first kilometer swim. They were both breathless, treading water as the sun painted the sky in shades of pink and gold. "Scary and beautiful. Easier when you stop fighting it."
Lucas kissed him right there, tasting salt and sunshine, feeling the waves rock them gently like a cradle. The few other early-morning swimmers nearby cheered, and someone shouted "Lindos!" (Beautiful!): and Lucas realized this was the freedom he'd been searching for all along.
Living Authentically Under the Brazilian Sun
These days, Lucas teaches open-water swimming clinics, helping others find the same liberation he discovered in those Atlantic waters. He and Thiago share an apartment in Botafogo with a view of Sugarloaf Mountain, and on weekends they swim together at dawn before the city fully wakes.
His mother now asks about Thiago when she calls, wants to know if he's eating enough, worries about them swimming too far from shore. His father shook Thiago's hand at their last family dinner and said, "You make him happy. That's what matters." Progress comes in waves, just like the ocean: sometimes crashing forward, sometimes pulling back, but always moving.
The queer community Lucas has found through swimming extends far beyond the beach. They're the found family who shows up when you need them, who celebrate your victories and hold space for your struggles. Whether you're looking for gay romance books to curl up with after a long swim or searching for community to share your story, places like Read with Pride remind us that we're never alone in our journeys.
The Power of Water and Truth
There's something about water that demands honesty. You can't lie to the ocean: it'll expose your weaknesses, reveal your strengths, show you exactly who you are. Maybe that's why so many of Lucas's LGBTQ+ friends are drawn to swimming. In the water, pretending is impossible. You're just you, stripped down to the essential, fighting to stay afloat or surrendering to the current that carries you home.
Lucas often thinks about that first morning when he said the words aloud to the Atlantic, how terrifying and liberating it felt. How the water held him anyway, indifferent to his fear, constant in its push and pull. The ocean taught him that some forces are bigger than shame, that nature doesn't judge, that freedom is something you claim stroke by stroke.
Now when he swims, it's not an escape: it's a celebration. Every morning in those waves is a reminder that he chose himself, chose truth, chose love. The rhythm of Rio pulses through his veins like samba music, the chlorine has been washed away by saltwater, and he's finally, beautifully, authentically home.
Looking for more inspiring LGBTQ+ stories? Dive into our collection of gay romance novels and MM romance books at readwithpride.com. From coming-out stories to steamy love affairs, we celebrate authentic queer narratives that make waves. 🌊🏳️🌈
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