Historically, people of African, Caribbean, and Asian heritage have been marginalized in the world of aquatics. The barriers faced by these communities are complex, tied to legacies of racism, segregation, stereotypes, and financial constraints.
These factors have contributed to a lack of education when it comes to water safety as well as opportunities to participate in aquatic sports. However, with the help of three fantastic Black women, inroads are being made into the world of water sports.
Simone Manuel is one of the team captains for Team USA in swimming. She has used her platform to advocate for herself, as well the larger issue of mental health within sports. Bouncing back from the debilitating condition of overtraining syndrome, Manuel made the Olympic team this year in the 50-meter freestyle and recently anchored the team to a Bronze medal in the 4x100m Freestyle Relay. Manuel medaled in the 2016 Games in Rio, earning two gold and one silver. Manuel’s success challenges the stereotype that Black people don’t swim.
In 2016, Ashleigh Johnson became the first African American woman to make the US Olympic team in water polo. That year the team took gold, something she’s looking to do this year in Tokyo. Like Black athletes before her, she faced questions about her place in the aquatic sport. But she pushed back against stigma and committed herself to be a role model for the next generation of young swimmers.
Alice Dearing will be the first Black woman to swim for Great Britain during the Tokyo games this summer. Co-founder of the Black Swimmers Association (BSA), Dearing is committed to bringing awareness about aquatic sports to those historically omitted from the conversation. She and her BSA team challenge myths that Black people can’t swim, discuss the Black origins of freestyle swimming and converse about Black girls and their hair.
Along with Natalie Hinds, the third leg on Team USA’s aforementioned Bronze winning 4x100m Freestyle Relay team, these women bring their Black Girl Magic to the world of water sports. They successfully amplify their individual platforms while simultaneously shining the light on the broader issues surrounding Black participation in aquatic sports.
In England, according to the BSA, 90% of Black adults and 85% of Black children do not swim. In America, 64% of Black children can’t swim according to the USA Swimming Foundation.
These statistics are disheartening and alarming, especially considering that, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the risk of drowning is highest among minority ethnic communities.
Swimming is a life skill, one that is sorely underdeveloped for too many Black people globally. Aside from being fun, it can also be lifesaving.
Black People do Swim
I was about 9 years when I really learned how to swim.
My uncle took me to the YMCA in Cincinnati and threw me into the pool. An immigrant from a family of non-swimmers, my uncle was required to pass a swim test in order to graduate from college. While I was horrified at the time, knowing how to swim has been one of the greatest gifts of my life. And while I will never make the Olympics, I can handle myself in the water if things go wrong.
Naji Ali, a Black Open-Water swimmer, told me about the unknown history of Black open-water swimmers. Many Black people may not be able to say that their parents or grandparents know how to swim. But if we were to go back further along our linages, we would find a long legacy of swimmers.
“You get to the situation where the grandparents weren’t involved in swimming, they never learned to swim, they never took their children to swim and their children never took their children to swim,” said Alice Dearing to the Guardian.
Black history in the water at an elite level spans roughly four decades and the list of competitive Black swimmers is relatively short.
But it’s very impressive.
In 1982, Los Angeles’ Chris Silva became the first Black person to compete for Team USA during the World University Games in Edmonton, Canada.
The First African swimmer to earn an Olympic gold was Anthony Nesty of Suriname at the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, Korea.
In 1999, Allison Terry of San Diego became the first Black woman to compete for Team USA during the Pan American Games.
In 2000, Anthony Ervin became the first Black American to compete in the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Four years later Maritza Correia became the first Black woman to compete for Team USA in the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. There she won a silver medal as part of the 4X100 freestyle relay team. That same year, Genai Kerr and Omar Amr became the first Black swimmers to compete for Team USA in water polo in 2004.
Then Cullen Jones entered the pool. As a member of the 4x100m relay team at the Pan Pacific Championships in 2006, Jones became the second African American for Team USA (Anthony Ervin was the first) to set a world record. He would go on to win gold at the 2008 Olympic Games and two silvers and one gold at the 2012 Games.
Four years later, Simone Manuel became the first African American woman to win Olympic gold in an individual event. At the 2016 Games, she tied an Olympic record in a tie with Canada’s Penny Oleksiak in the 100m freestyle. That year she also won another gold in the 4x100m medley and two silvers (4x100m freestyle and 50m freestyle).
The pool (literally) of Black Olympic swimmers remains small, but strides are being made.
Black women like Manuel, Dearing, and Johnson are leading the way. They champion not only aquatic sports, but larger social issues as well.
From fanless arenas due to Covid restrictions to the purge of Black women in track and field, the Tokyo Games presents many storylines to follow.
Yet with all of the worries come reasons for joy and hope, something bestowed upon us by Black Girl Magic at the Games. For Team USA, it carries through the air with Simone Biles, radiates on land with sprinters such as Allyson Felix, and roars in the water through Simone Manuel and Ashleigh Johnson.
