Filipina swimmer Akiko Thomson on battling depression and being an 'Olympian for Life'
Akiko Thomson Guevara, a decorated swimmer who became a journalist and government official, looked back on her journey to being an "Olympian for Life."
Akiko was born in the United States to an American father and a Japanese mother. Her family moved to Manila when she was young. She began swimming at the age of 6 and joined the national team when she was 10. In 1985, she became a naturalized Filipino citizen through Presidential Decree No. 1983.
She participated in local and international swimming competitions, including the Southeast Asian Games and the Olympics.
Akiko is the most accomplished Filipina swimmer, who won eight gold medals at the SEA Games between 1987 and 1993.
With a desire to make a mark beyond swimming, she retired from the sport and went on to discover other facets of herself.
On being a journalist
Akiko noted that an athlete retires under her own terms. "You can retire on top, you can retire (at the bottom). Whenever you want, I think it's when you feel like... 'I've done what I wanted to do,'" she said in an interview with Bernadette Sembrano published on YouTube on Aug. 19.
She, however, lamented being pegged as just a swimmer. "I felt like, 'Shocks. Isn't there anything else I can do... I'm not just a swimmer, you know?" Akiko said.
She discovered other facets of her life by attending acting classes and going back to school to take her master of business arts degree, which she said was one of the hardest things she did.
"I went through depression. It doesn't come right away, right? You're kind of still searching," she shared.
"Then Gameplan came around," Akiko said of the 2001 to 2005 television show of Probe Productions where she became a co-host.
"That was so much fun. I mean, traveling, doing sports with such amazing individuals in such an amazing organization," she recalled. "It was some of the best days of my life."
On having a daughter with Down syndrome
Akiko, in the same interview, also opened up about having a child with special needs.
"It's beautiful. We can see God's hand upon us and she came on our seventh wedding anniversary for crying out loud," she said of her daughter Sachiko, who has Down syndrome, a genetic disorder caused when abnormal cell division results in an extra full or partial copy of chromosome 21. This leads to intellectual disability and developmental delays.
"It's been so eye-opening for me... Sachiko, she's our therapy," she added.
She noted that her daughter has a high emotional quotient and though cannot walk or talk like the typical kids, Sachiko "will get there" at her own pace with the right support and intervention.
For Akiko, raising Sachiko taught her that it's "a bit of an adventure."
She also takes the time to teach Sachiko how to swim.
"She's a visual learner," she said. "I'm just very hopeful for her."
Aside from Sachiko, she has two other children with her husband, mechanical engineer Samuel "Chips" Guevara.
On being an 'Olympian for Life'
Akiko gave weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz a shoutout for winning the country's first gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
"It feels like it took a long time, but I am just proud of Hidilyn," she said. "She did it when she did it."
She also noted how gymnast Carlos Yulo's years of training were a "long process" and a "huge investment."
"But man, it's worth it, right? On so many levels," she said. Yulo is the second Filipino after Diaz to win Olympic gold—and wrote history by winning two at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
"The pride, the inspiration, the other aspects. It will inspire kids to get into sports," she said. "That's why it's a no-brainer investment and it takes a village."
Akiko opened up about all the gold medals she got and looked back into her illustrious career, calling it "so, so special."
She opened the Akiko Thomson Swimming School at the Colegio San Agustin in Makati in 2011 and became a commissioner of the Philippine Sports Commission from 2010 to 2016 and eventually the president of the Philippine Olympians Association. Akiko is likewise the chairperson and president of the Special Olympics Pilipinas.
Last August, she was named an "Olympian for Life" by the World Olympics Association.
"They're all very special—back then, swimming was all I did. I very much appreciate it but I know at the end of the day, I just want to be a good steward. It's His will done. It's His stamp of blessing and approval that matters most," she concluded.
