Mom didn’t have an answer.
Advertisement
“I kind of [saw] it, like, ‘Oh, that’s cool, ‘” Manuel said. “At that moment she really realized she was OK with who she was”. “I told her where I was sitting, so when she got up to show that she had qualified for the team she pointed over at me and went like this”, explained Lamon, while waving excitedly.
In all, Stanford swimmers have accumulated 10 medals in six days at the Rio Olympic Games, and have several chances to add to that total. It’s for some of the African-Americans who have come before me and been an inspiration.
The last Olympic tie for gold was in the men’s 50 free at the 2000 Sydney Games, when Americans Gary Hall Jr. and Anthony Ervin tied for the top spot on the podium.
Sharron Manuel knew these stats when she and her husband Marc chose to have all their kids take swim lessons.
The headline was posted on the newspaper’s website, but quickly removed and replaced with one carrying Manuel’s name with Phelps’. “I was her very first swim teacher”, said Tracy Lamon. “I was like, ‘I’ll take it!'”
By now, Manuel is at least partly aware of how her victory has resonated around her home country, in which African-Americans have few role models in the sport.
“It means a lot, especially with what’s going on in the world today, just with some of the issues with police brutality”, Manuel said.
The gold medalist said the win is extra special as she recognizes the significance of being a rare black swimmer representing the United States. “She would like to be recognized for her merits and dedication”. “Just being a black woman myself and to see just someone like me, like the color, is just so incredible and for her to get an Olympic record is better still”.
But now her daughter is part of the history, part of that learning process.
“Coming into the race I tried to take weight of the black community off my shoulders”, said Manuel.
“It means a lot (to be the first black woman to earn gold in the pool)”, Manuel said after the race. She doesn’t even know!’ Then she turned around. ‘We made a mistake, ‘ he said. Manuel learned Mandarin as a result. She was a symbol for what should have been self-evident all along: Swimming is for everyone. In 2010, she experienced a turning point, being chosen for USA Swimming’s diversity select camp, where she met other talented minorities. Turning to search for the score boards must have felt like the longest seconds of her life.
The competition ended with the floor routine, her signature event, in which she executed her signature move (a double layout with a half-twist and a blind landing), now officially known as “the Biles”. But Jones failed to make the US team this year in what could have been his final attempt. He is a major proponent of USA Swimming’s “Make a Splash” campaign that seeks to prevent drownings by teaching youngsters to swim with an emphasis on minorities. So real that, according to a 2010 study commissioned by USA Swimming, 69 percent of black children had “low or no swim ability”. Black children drown at a rate almost three times higher than their white peers. The 19-year-old athlete joined an elite group of American all-around winners comprised of Mary Lou Retton, Carly Patterson, Nastia Liukin and Gabby Douglas. Black swimmers got smaller indoor pools if they were lucky.
And while she was toppling Olympic records, the 20-year-old set yet another mark.
Even Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the “Hamilton” musical, sent a message.
It’s no secret that Olympians can eat an insane amount of calories every day due to the amount of exercise they get (you know, the whole exercise-to-calorie ratio), but Simone isn’t all carbs all the time.
Advertisement
Stay on topic – This helps keep the thread focused on the discussion at hand. We pulled different articles and started reading.
