Hoelzer strives to aid other child abuse victims

Margaret Hoelzer set a world record in the 200-meter backstroke at the US trials for the Beijing Olympics. At the Games this summer, she won three medals (two silvers and a bronze). She is a champion swimmer, but she has struggled for a long time with dark secrets swirling just below the surface. Secrets more than 20 years old. Secrets about child sexual abuse. And now she’s reliving her past to help other children.

The process is painful. Hoelzer, 25, couldn’t live by herself until last year, her childhood robbed by a playmate’s father who gained her trust when she was just 5 years old. The ripples created by the trauma haunt her to this day. But after returning from China, she decided to tell her story.

Advocates are grateful for her support. Researchers say 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 7 boys will be a victim of sexual abuse before their 18th birthday, according to the US Department of Veteran Affairs, National Center for Posttraumatic Stress.

“Margaret is so unbelievable; what she’s doing screams of courage,” said Catherine Hereford, the director of development for the National Child Advocacy Center, a nonprofit agency for which Hoelzer is a spokeswoman. Hoelzer wants to devote her life to the prevention of child sexual abuse.

Hereford calls her “amazing.”

“It’s extremely difficult to talk about something like that,” said Hereford. “A lot of people that have gone through it feel shame and guilt. She had an opportunity to share her story to make a difference, and that outweighed any hesitation she had about public humiliation or embarrassing herself.”

Hoelzer, tall and personable, pulls out a photograph of herself when she was 6: a blue-eyed girl in a sky-blue bathing suit, with a beaming smile. Everything looked picture-perfect.

But something horrible was going on. And her parents never knew.

Today when she talks about her playmate’s father, she shrugs.

“This happened to me, and I went to the Olympics. If I can help just one child, it’s worth talking about. Maybe some 8-year-old kid will read this and say, ‘Yeah, I can get over this. I see light at the end of the tunnel.’ ”

Read this powerful story from Stan Grossfield of The Boston Globe - Belated Crusade

Margaret swam collegiately for Auburn and now trains, professionally with King Aquatic Club in suburban Seattle, WA.

Recently, Margaret competed at her second Olympic Games where she won 1 bronze and 2 silver medals. At the US Trials, she posted her first World Record swim in her signature event, the 200m Backstroke. The record was lowered in Beijing by Kirsty Coventry.

Margaret is a National Spokesperson for the National Children’s Advocacy Center. She is available for speaking engagements. Please contact PMG Sports for more information.

Margaret is nominated for ‘Female Athlete of the Year’ at the upcoming Golden Goggle Awards

Boston Globe, Margaret Hoelzer website