Zack Tanner
ztanner@post-gazette.com
February 19, 2019
![Colby Love, 18, packs a backpack as he gets ready to leave for his team's daily swim practice at Bethel Park High School Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019, in his room in Bethel Park. During sophomore year of high school, Love fell into a deep depression, some of the anxiety stemming from pressure he felt swimming competitively. Once, Love explained, “I got frustrated with the fact that I couldn’t do it. I got so annoyed that I literally came home and took everything swimming off my walls and unfollowed everything swimming [on social media] because I couldn’t think about it without getting mad." But after taking a year off from both school and swimming, at which time he received metal and physical treatment for his depression and gender reassignment, Love returned to the pool to finish his senior year in the sport. "I went into it saying like, I’m doing this for me and not anyone else."](https://i0.wp.com/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/20190206JWColbyLoveProfile13.jpg?ssl=1)
Colby Love, 18, packs a backpack as he gets ready to leave for his team’s daily swim practice at Bethel Park High School Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019, in his room in Bethel Park. During sophomore year of high school, Love fell into a deep depression, some of the anxiety stemming from pressure he felt swimming competitively. Once, Love explained, “I got frustrated with the fact that I couldn’t do it. I got so annoyed that I literally came home and took everything swimming off my walls and unfollowed everything swimming [on social media] because I couldn’t think about it without getting mad.” But after taking a year off from both school and swimming, at which time he received metal and physical treatment for his depression and gender reassignment, Love returned to the pool to finish his senior year in the sport. “I went into it saying like, I’m doing this for me and not anyone else.”