Olympic swimmer Ryan Murphy opens up about life in the water with atopic dermatitis, learning to live with it so he can be where heās most comfortable.Ā
Do swimmers have the best bodies?
The question may be subjective, but the popular response tends to be a resounding yes.Ā The admired physique is a byproduct of gliding through the pool, hours at a time.
Ryan Murphy loves being in the water. He always has, ever since he can remember.
The four-time Olympic gold medalist and the former world record holder for the 100 m backstroke has a textbook swimmerās body, yet the 27-year-old champion still feels self-conscious at times wearing a Speedo.
Thatās because Murphy, like professional surfer Coco Ho, deals with atopic dermatitis, more commonly known as eczema.
Eczema can be irritated by sun and water, which presented a conundrum for six-year-old Ryan and his parents. He would experience flare-ups at swim meets, but despite the pain, nothing could remove him from his preferred environment.
In the water is where Ryan is the most comfortable; where he can be one with nature and take in the moment. Growing up in Jacksonville, Florida, he was surrounded by water, spending summers floating in the Atlanta Ocean and the St. Johns River.Ā Considering the abundance of natural springs and pristine swimming spots near Jacksonville, itās easy to imagine how Ryanās connection with the water was fostered, especially as a student of The Bolles School. Ryan even plans on marrying his fiancĆ©e, longtime girlfriend Bridget Kontinnen, on the picturesque shores of Lake Tahoe.
From his competitive high school days to representing the Cal State Golden Bears to symbolizing American success as an Olympic medalist, Ryan has worked endlessly to reach the podium.
Now, Murphy uses his platform to call attention to a health issue that affects one in ten Americans. Murphy and Ho have partnered with Sanofi and Regeneron for āThe Now Me: Beach Modeā program to prove that eczema doesnāt have to keep athletes out of their element.
Murphy spoke with FanSided about how heās battled eczema to get to where he is today, offering insightful lessons heās learned along the way.

Olympic swimmer Ryan Murphy opens up about battling eczema to be one with nature
I understand that atopic dermatitis is something that has presented a challenge throughout your career, and I imagine there are so many other people who love swimming and deal with this, too. How has this affected your swimming career?
Yeah, I think I view it in a little bit more broad sense rather than how itās impacted the swimming career.
Certainly growing up, there were some insecurities about wearing a small Speedo while having a flare-up with eczema. But I think overall, itās been something that Iāve learned:Ā mitigation techniques, things that worked for me, figured out treatment plans that work for me. Overall, Iām really excited to share my story and hopefully inspire everyone living with moderate to severe eczema to feel comfortable with their own skin.
I really love that because now youāre on the world stage, and weāre seeing you at the Olympics. This is a really powerful thing that youāre doing, especially promoting self-love and acceptance.
Is there a specific moment that you remember where you powered through these symptoms for a win?
Yeah, thereās a pretty specific moment. And I think, honestly, it makes sense for me to go back to one of the first times that I dealt with symptoms of eczema.
Growing up ā I think it started as early as age six ā where I thought I just had a rash. My parents thought I just had a rash. I was constantly itching. My arms, my legs, wherever the flare-up was, and thatās really what I thought it was. I thought it was related to allergies.
As I got older, there was a meet ā I had just gotten into high school, and we were having a swim meet in Austin, Texas. At the beginning of the meeting, the eczema was starting in my legs. By the end of the meet, the eczema flared up all the way up my neck. It was hard to turn my neck. Very, very scaly skin.
So itās just really uncomfortable. Every time I got into the water, constantly getting in and out of the water, drying off with a towel, drying off of with wet towel at that. Those are all things that werenāt necessarily great in terms of making the symptoms feel better. So that was a scenario where I did power through it in a competitive sense to still compete while the eczema was not great.
Canāt believe you went through all that, especially knowing where you are today and thatās where it started.
Was there ever a moment with you or even your parents who might have been worried where, āWe know that this is eczema, and we know that sun and water can aggravate thisā ā was there ever a moment where you wondered, āShould I be doing this?ā
To be very, very direct, no. I think weāve we felt really comfortable when we went to the doctor and we figured out that it was moderate to severe eczema (or atopic dermatitis) that we felt comfortable about creating a path forward. And I think itās honestly been a really positive experience for me at this point.
And itās awesome to be in a place now where I feel comfortable sharing my story, hopefully inspiring everyone living with moderate to severe eczema, to feel confident with their own skin. And Iām really appreciative for Sanofi and Regeneron for piloting this āNow Me: Beach Modeā campaign and for including me in it.
Iām so glad that you share that, because you are already a role model for kids, but also in this way for kids dealing with eczema.
Since last summer, letās just recap: You now have six Olympic medals in only two games, which is incredible. You set an Olympic relay record, and you won your first World title this summer. This is winning at the highest level, and youāve explained a little bit about how challenges have come your way and you always, as you said, found a positive path forward.
Whatās been the driving force behind winning at the highest level?
I think honestly, the driving force has been that Iāve been really fortunate to have incredible people around me for my entire career. Going back to high school, just really by chance, I stumbled into a program that ended up being pretty much a top high school swimming program. All four years I was in high school. My teammates from high school ā four different people ā have gone on to win Olympic medals.
Then I was able to come to Cal and have really impressive athletes around me, have a really great coaching staff, and they taught me everything. My job is to go in, work really hard, and execute a game plan, communicate to the best of my ability so that they can do their jobs to the best of their ability. But it really does come down to people.
Iām glad that you bring up the special people in your life because I heard that youāre getting married to your college sweetheart Bridget, who was a varsity rower at Cal.
I wanted to know more about your wedding plans, and I was also wondering: I saw on Instagram that she was hoping for a dog, so did you get a dog yet?
Yeah, no on the dog front for right now. Right now, weāre still in an apartment building. So living on the seventh floor with a dog, it would be a little bit challenging, but sheās continuing to push on that one.
But really excited. Weāll get married in September of 2023 that will coincidentally be a beach wedding. Itās in Lake Tahoe on the water. So itās going to be a really, really pretty venue. And you know, weāre just at the beginning of the planning. So right now, Iām really excited about it, and Iām really excited to kind of figure out what that weekend is going to look like.
Thatās so exciting. I love the whole waterfront wedding, especially with both of you being water athletes. So youāre marrying someone from Cal, and I know youāre still involved with the program. How big of a place does Cal have in your heart?
Oh, wow. Yeah, Cal has been an incredible experience. I grew up in Florida. And really thatās where my love for the water started. I grew up swimming obviously, but Florida and in Jacksonville. Thereās so much water everywhere. So I was going to the beach on the Atlantic Ocean. I was going to the St. Johns River. It felt like thatās what I enjoyed doing was just being around water.
And coming out to California, it was a completely different culture, a completely different experience. But itās been really cool, and Iāve just found myself really motivated. Since Iāve been out here, both in the classroom being surrounded by really impressive, driven people, and also in the swimming pool. Just being surrounded by people that have Olympic aspirations is something that Iāve really been able to feed off of, and I think itās made me a lot better.
It is so incredible to be part of a storied program like that, and go on to the Olympics and be connected to all of that.
And speaking of those Olympic connections, you know, in the past, Americans have often thought of Michael Phelps when we think of American swimming, now theyāre thinking of you.
I love that and Rio 2016, you both won gold in the medley relay. I think of this as passing the baton, both literally and figuratively. Whatās your connection been like with Michael, and what does having the baton passed mean to you?
Yeah, itās really cool. And honestly, I donāt think of it in those terms. I always try to think of it as⦠Thereās this great quote, and I really hope I donāt say this the wrong way. But in general, weāre able to see farther because weāre standing on the shoulders of giants.
Thatās kind of something that Iāve thought of throughout my entire career. Youāre constantly trying to build upon what people that have come before you in this sport. Iāve done both: from a specific competitive standpoint, Iām studying those people and Iām learning what they did. Iām talking to them about their mental makeup. Iām talking to them about how to inspire the next generation.
So youāre learning all these all of these traits that they really valued, and then youāre doing what you think is going to help push the sport forward and doing what you think is going to inspire the most people possible.
Thatās really special. And so I want to ask you since you bring that up, and weāve talked about how much you love the water, so I know even itās been a challenge with AD, but what does being in the water mean to you as a safe space and a place to relax? What does that mean to you over your life and career?
I think honestly what I appreciate about the water in terms of being a relaxing outlet is right now, that itās the only place where I canāt bring technology. Itās the only place where I donāt have my phone.
Even now, if weāre working out in the weight room, my workout is on my phone. And so swimming and being in the water, being at the beach, itās the one place I could put all technology away and just be one with nature. Just really enjoy the moment.
And thatās where I do feel most comfortable, is no distractions, just existing with other people. Some of the best experiences of my life have happened at the beach, and that was a huge reason why I wanted to be part of the āNow Me: Beach Modeā campaign with Sanofi and Regeneron.
Thatās such an important message for all of us, and we see what you do in the water without distractions right? You go ahead and win.
Ryan and professional surfer Coco Ho have teamed up to join āThe Now Me: Beach Modeā program, in partnership with Dupixent, to educate the public about the realities and challenges people with moderate-to-severe AD face, helping them find treatment plans so they canĀ activate āBeach Modeā all year long.Ā