“Forget the idea of flat stomachs, perky boobs, a tight bum. Those qualities should not be accolades to strive for”.
It’s that time of year when everyone begins slightly panicking about showing off all our white bits, well one Florida native is giving us serious inspiration to not only embrace our bodies, but to show them off with pride.
Courtney Harrough is a competitive swimmer and lifeguard, she also happens to be curvy and proud. Harrough, who played water polo in high school, says her peers weren’t always welcoming throughout the training process, and some people were cutting.
In an interview with Refinery29 Courtney explained;
“A woman my height, but three times smaller than me said, ‘I find it hard to believe you were an athletic swimmer,’
Clearly well able to handle herself Courtney explained how she responded;
“I try my hardest not to be nasty to people. I said [to the woman who said she doubted I was a swimmer], ‘I think what’s cool about the human body is it takes different shapes and forms, and is capable of different things. Your background is freestyle, so you need to be lean and long. Mine is water polo, so it helps being hefty and strong”.
Courtney recently passed her deep water lifeguard test and we’ll definitely be keeping up with her positive body messages not just through Summer, but all year round.
