Steve Figg has been involved in sports since he was 9, first playing basketball, soccer, and competing in track.
But his passion was swimming and divingand that's where he found much success.
In high school, Figg competed in swimming, diving, and on the track team. He then, from 1985-87, was a scholarship diver at James Madison Universityand in '87, he was the school's first diver in 10 years to qualify for the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming/Diving Championships.
Decades later, Figg participated in the 2011 Ironman Wisconsin Triathlon, which he tagged as, "My most challenging sporting event."
Most recently, Figg competed in the 2016 Glenbrook Aquatics Diving Invite, and he won first place on the one-meter and three-meter springboard.
Figg's competition slate for 2016 includes the Windy City Diving Invitational in April; the Illinois State Masters Swimming Championships in April; the U.S. Masters Diving Spring Nationals in Orlando, Florida, in May; the U.S. Master Diving Summer Nationals in Greensboro, North Carolina; and more.
"I work as a marathon and swim coach for a variety of groups, including FFC TriMonster, Live Grit, LifeTime Athletic, Team To End AIDS and Team Bright Pink," Figg said. "I joined the TriMonster triathlon team back in 2011 and started coaching in 2014. For Live Grit, I became involved with their First Timers triathlon program in 2015 which coaches athletes through their first Chicago Triathlon."
Figg competed in the 2014 Gay Games in swimming, diving and triathlon events. "My best results were: Men's 1-meter springboard ( silver medal ), men's three-meter springboard ( silver ), men's 400 meter freestyle relay ( bronze medal and national top 10 time )."
Plus, he was awarded the men's swimming Spirit Award along with Le'Mikas Lavender.
"After ( the ) Gay Games, I wanted to continue on with the sport, but there is no Masters diving team in Chicago, so I contacted the head coach and inquired about practicing with Windy City Diving ( WCD ), which is a nationally-ranked age-group ( 18 & under ) diving team based out of the University of Illinois-Chicago," Figg said. "I practiced with the WCD team through my first Masters Diving Nationals in May 2015, and then joined the WCD team."
Figg also is a volunteer for the Center on Halsted and a participant in the annual Santa Speedo Run. In addition, he serves as co-social chair for the Chicago Smelts swim team.
THE STATS
* Age: 49
* Orientation: Gay
* Relationship status: Single
* Neighborhood: Printers Row, Chicago
* Hobbies: "Running for Beer with the Hash House Harriers. I also enjoy working in film, theater and stand-up comedy."
* Favorite TV show: The Blacklist
* Favorite movie: Auntie Mame
* Favorite pro athlete: Australian triathlete Craig "Crowie" Alexander
* Challenges: "One of the hardest obstacles I've overcome in life was adjusting to a new life in Virginia after my mother passed away and I was adopted by my aunt and uncle."
* Little-known fact: "I was adopted by my aunt and uncle when I was 8 years old."