“A medal, a medal, I’ll take it”, said Dion Willis, as he stood near the beach at the annual YWCA Picnic, which had an Olympic theme complete with balloons and suggested attire.
Advertisement
She’s rooming with fellow gold-medalist Simone Manuel. Her time of 52.70 seconds was an American and Olympic record. And as she physically made history in Rio, she symbolically swam upstream against the longstanding history of exclusion and violence in America’s “contested waters”. “I said ‘no, no, she was doing great”. She was right back in the pool on Friday, qualifying 11th in the 50-meter freestyle preliminaries. “I was her very first swim teacher”, said Tracy Lamon.
“Sadly I don’t see a whole lot of people of color, especially who look like me, who are in the pool”, Lourdes said. “I haven’t really gotten a chance to take everything in, but that’s OK because I want to do well in the rest of my events this week”.
Manuel, 20, already understands the significance of her accomplishment. “And that’s not true because I work just as hard as anybody else, and I love the sport, and I want to win just like everybody else!”
In gymnastics, Gabby Douglas became the first African-American to win the Olympic all-around in 2012.
It came just hours after Biles had dominated the competition in the women’s all-around event and entered the conversation of whether she is the greatest gymnast of all time.
After winning the gold, Manuel and USA gymnast Simone Biles – gold medalist and All-Around competition champion in Rio – celebrated their victories, as well as their mutual first name. She doesn’t even know!’ Then she turned around. “. When she was about 15 in high school, we started talking to her about swimming isn’t just going to be about her and that there will be a point in her life when the swimming will be more than just for her, that it will be a time when she will have to share that gift with the world, and it will carry a message”.
Meanwhile, USA Swimming hosts diversity camps, has developed community partnerships with city departments in diverse areas and has a diversity coach mentorship program. When she arrived to swim during Memorial Day, she was confronted with a sign emblazoned with the words, “Public Swimming Pool, White Only” hanging from duplex’s pool gate. She is 18 years old, the first female Olympic swimmer for United Arab Emirates and was her country’s flag bearer in the Opening Ceremonies. Cullen Jones was the best known, having won two golds and two silvers at the last two Olympics.
“To me, this win shows that black people are resilient and soar through adversity”, she wrote in an email.
Advertisement
JaVe Bonner, a pre-med student at George Mason University, said Manuel’s win is significant to her because she was told when she was younger that she couldn’t go into a neighborhood pool since her skin was “dirty”. “I hope I’m an inspiration for others to get out there and try swimming. You might be pretty good at it”.
