“I think it’s really cool because us African-American girls can do it”, said 15-year-old Chloe Webb. This is Lochte’s 12th Olympic medal. “She’s just a role model, an incredible human being”, University of Arkansas swimmer Cris Roberts said. “And I’m just so blessed to have a gold medal”.
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After that, Cullen began taking swimming lessons; now, he says he feels most at home in the water. “You might be pretty good at it”.
Fighting back tears, Manuel seemed overcome by the historic significance of it all.
Swimmer Simone Manuel is putting her historic Olympic win into perspective.
But other news accounts did her justice. She and Lia Neal, a teammate of Manuel’s at Stanford, gave the USA women’s team two African-American swimmers for the first time. “I felt like I was swimming every stroke with her”.
“No other woman has ever done it and I’m glad she was the first one to break that mold”, said Craig Prince. “And that’s not true”.
The seven-time All-American at Stanford is competing in her first Olympics, and also earned silver as a member of the USA’s 400-meter freestyle relay team.
Redemption for Raisman: After losing out on a medal in the all-around in London due to a freaky tiebreak procedure, American Aly Raisman used the chance at medaling in Rio as her motivation to return to the gym. “I love that she has made history”, she added. At Stanford, she is a two-time individual NCAA champion: winning the 50- and 100-yard freestyle in 2015.
“Look at Simone! Trying to pass Cate Campbell for the victory”. Bronte trailed her by a quarter of a second. Manuel is certainly likely to follow in his footsteps.
During her senior year in high school, she rose to prominence in the swim community when she broke the national record for her age group on her 17th birthday. And here came Manuel and Oleksiak. “Everyone had to watch the result many times before we understood what happened… the biggest surprise so far in this competition”, Sjostrom pointed out.
Manuel grew up in Texas, but made a decision to go west for college. They both touched. A single light – indicating first – lit up on each of their starting blocks. “I never thought I would be in this position but I’m so blessed and honored to be on the medal stand”. “It’s for some of the African Americans who have come before me and been an inspiration”. Simone has truly broken down a barrier, but the fact the media has focused on Manuel’s race when describing her win indicates that there is still a very long way to go. “The phenomenon has been traced to slavery and to Jim Crow laws, which segregated swimming pools”, wrote Jerry Brewer.
“It means a lot, especially with what is going on in the world today, some of the issues of police brutality”, Manuel told reporters. It’s not just about her skin color. Simone’s most important achievement may just be the fact that she has dislodged another brick in the wall of racial discrimination and segregation.
It may not have sunk in by that point how Manuel’s life had just changed.
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Manuel considers herself a reluctant public figure and tried to shy away from the responsibility of being a Black swimmer in a sport dominated by whites and other races.
