The Boston Uprising announced on Tuesday that they are amicably parting ways with Main Support player Gabriel “Swimmer” Levy. Swimmer has been a member of the Boston Uprising organization since November of 2019.
Swimmer cited his mental health and a desire to consider his future as the key reasons for his decision.
The 19-year-old player published a long Twitter post detailing his reasons for taking a step back from Overwatch competition. He cited his mental health and a desire to consider his future as the key reasons for his decision.
“I’ve been non-stop competing for the past 10+ years of my life, through Swimming, Soccer (Football for those non-Americans), Water Polo, and Overwatch, and I want to take a small step back and decide if this is really what I want to do in my life,” explained Swimmer on Twitter. “I really enjoy it, and i’m a very competitive person, but I’ve become too caught up in the idea of competing – i’ve let my life pass me by, which isn’t the happiest thing a 19 year old can say. Nevertheless, i’m very thankful for the opportunity Boston has given me, and the experiences that have come from it I will never forget.”
He went on to preemptively dispel any rumor that he is leaving Overwatch to play Valorant. Swimmer made it very clear in a follow-up Tweet that this choice is about improving himself as a person and taking care of his own mental health.
“We respect Swimmer’s decision to take a step back from league play at this time and wish him the best going forward” stated Uprising President of Gaming Chris “HuK” Loranger in a press release. “We are thankful for his contributions to the team and hope to see him competing again soon.”
Before playing in the OWL for the Uprising, Swimmer played on the Uprising Academy team from the end of 2018 through October of 2019. While with the Uprising Academy, he won the Overwatch Contenders 2019 Season 2 Trials minor and participated in three Contenders majors. Before joining Uprising Academy, Swimmer played for Toronto Esports with whom he won the BEAT Season 5 Invitational Minor.
Swimmer is the third player the Boston Uprising have lost recently. Sang-beom “Munchkin” Byun parted ways with the Uprising on March 2nd and the Uprising also terminated Walid “Mouffin” Bassal’s contract on April 4th following allegations of misconduct against Mouffin.
With Min-Seob “Axxiom” Park currently on a leave of absence, the Boston Uprising are now down to only 6 active players on their roster. The Uprising are scheduled to play the Toronto Defiant on Friday, April 17th at 6 PM PT.
