Jeff Commings, the first African-American to win Gold in swimming at an Olympic Festival was profiled in the June 2009 Men’s Issue of SWEAT Magazine. Commings, Associate Producer for Swimming World Magazine and Swimming World TV started writing Odd Man Out, an Autobiography in 2000 but made it a serious venture in 2005. He was a member of several USA Swimming national teams, competed in two Olympic Trials, and in addition his Olympic Festival Gold was the first African-American swimmer to compete at the Pan-American Games. In Odd Man Out Commings tells his story as a gay African-American swimmer. He writes about his teenage years and most of his 20s, when he was afraid to live openly as a gay man. His fear of rejection affected his life socially and athletically. It is not only a story of Commings finding his place but a story of a black man who rose through the ranks of swimming’s elite when there were very few on pool decks with his skin color. You can read excerpts or purchase Odd Man Out available in paperback ($20) or for Kindle ($9.99) at www.dolphinsofthedesert.com.