While it’s true that Manuel wasn’t as well known as the other Olympic athlete named Simone (the powerhouse gymnast who has earned multiple gold medals in her field), she grabbed the spotlight after she tied for first place in the 100-meter freestyle last week. When she was 18 months old and her mother’s back was briefly turned, she scurried into the bathtub fully clothed to play with her brother. In London, she swam this relay with Rebecca Soni, Allison Schmitt, and Bonnie Franklin. “I’m still the same person”. “We got on the internet and looked up information. It was important for me to do that for her because even at that time I saw she could do something special”.
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Manuel, who attends Stanford and has a brother who played basketball at SMU, looks forward to a time when there is greater diversity in the pool.
Going down the line of history, it is told that when it comes to the use of pools by Blacks, it has really been an eyesore with issues of pool owners pouring acids in pools just because Blacks would go and swim in them. Ledecky finished one of the most impressive individual performances at one Olympics on Friday night, winning her third individual gold medal – this one in the women’s 800-meter freestyle, which she won in a world record-breaking time of 8:04.79. On the podium, she let tears stream down her face as the Star-Spangled Banner played.
Simone Manuel wrapped up her races in Rio yesterday, finishing with four medals – getting gold in the 100m freestyle and 4x100m medley, and silver in 4×100 freestyle relay and the 50m freestyle. “It is for some of the African-Americans who have come before me”, she added, referencing former Olympians Maritza Correia and Cullen Jones. Access to pools has always been a challenge as African-Americans were often officially denied entrance to pools during segregation, then unofficially excluded in other ways afterward.
Manuel also gave a lot of credit to her family for her determination. Sharron wanted them all to be able to hang out at the pool in the hot Houston summers without worrying about their safety.
“Little girls are going to grow up watching Katie Ledecky, just, like destroy, destroy by insane margins”, DiRado said.
That includes a Lifeguard Training team in communities of color and scholarships for people who can not afford programs according to Parks spokesperson Dewey Potter.
At her news conference after her victory, Manuel acknowledged the history she made.
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Claressa Shields, the first American woman to win gold in boxing, tweeted, “Way to go Simone Manuel!”. He hopes Manuel’s gold will get other African-Americans in the water.
