Manuel, a 20-year old who attends Stanford, remained even-keeled about making history.
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That score earned her a tie Canadian Penny Oleksiak, 16, the pair sharing a new Olympic record and both receiving a gold medal.
At the Fort Bend YMCA in Missouri City, where Manuel used to practice, kids were also excited about the Olympian’s big win.
Allison Beebe began coaching Manuel when she was about 11 and saw her almost every day until the stunner graduated highschool.
RVA Swim manager Adam Kennedy says Manuel’s win at the Rio Games is a game changer and he believes it will propel diversity in the pools nationwide. “This medal is for the people who come behind me and get into the sport”. She won four medals total at the Rio Olympics.
She stuck with swimming while her brother played basketball.
Just like it mattered that Matthew Mitcham is gay, and Michael Sam is black and gay, the color of Simone Manuel’s skin matters in the sport of swimming. Three years ago, he couldn’t swim.
“It means a lot to me”, Manuel said afterward. She doesn’t even know!’ Then she turned around. “I was her very first swim teacher”, said Tracy Lamon.
“It is for some of the African-Americans who have come before me”.
“It is something I’ve definitely struggled with a lot”, she said.
Simone Biles doesn’t need much encouragement to either take a selfie in the athletes’ village, or to post it on her social media accounts.
“She will not only save kids’ lives, but inspire kids to use aquatics”, he said. On swimming’s last night, the American men’s and women’s 4×100-meter medley relay teams hope to repeat their golden races of the London 2012 games.
Manuel was quick to single out Jones, Olympic and Stanford teammate Lia Neal and former Olympic swimmer Maritza Correia for blazing a path for her. “So they automatically put the idea in their heads that “since I don’t know how to swim, you’re not going to know how to swim because I don’t feel comfortable with you being in the water”. “I want to win just like everybody else”. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.
While the teams’ lineups won’t be released until an hour before start time, we haven’t heard a peep about Phelps possibly not racing.
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