Celebrating Swimming Icons this Black History Month

According to USA Swimming, 58 percent of African American children are unable to swim. That's almost double the rate of white children. African American children also drown at nearly three times the overall rate. The history of this has basis from the lack of access people of colour were given to public pools, whether it be due to segregation or Jim Crow legislation. 

This is a prominent statistic that scares a lot of us in the swimming community and in recognition of black history month we would like to recognize some of the black pioneers that are working to change this trend in the future.

Cullen Jones 

Cullen Jones is a man whom needs no introduction as he is the first black male swimmer to hold a world record in swimming. At the 2008 United States Olympic Trials, Cullen set the record for the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 21.59, and he didn’t stop there. 

His record-breaking career wasn’t limited to solo efforts as Cullen was part of the 2008 and 2012 Olympic teams. In 2008, he teamed up with the likes of Michael Phelps as together they got the gold medal in the 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay, which also came with the world record time. His efforts are in the pool are unmatched however it is work on the outside of the pool that has garnered more attention from the media and public.

The story of how Cullen began is his swimming journey is quite incredible as at the age of five years old, he nearly drowned at a waterpark and was rescued by his father. From there, Cullen wanted to learn how to swim and it became his passion. These efforts have allowed for Cullen to become the face of USA Swimming’s “Make a Splash” program over the last 12 years to help teach kids how to swim, particularly in underserved communities. In addition to the numerous swim schools Jones decided to speak out about discrimination, sharing stories of racism that he’s faced since becoming a swimmer after nearly drowning as a child. It is these efforts and activism over Cullen’s life outside of the pool that we at SEAL Swimming salute him for and hope they set the tone for other minority swimmers.

Maritza Correia

Maritza Correia was the first black American to set an American and world swimming record, and the first female black Olympic swimmer to join the U.S. team. 

By the time she was 18, she became the 50-meter freestyle U.S. national champion in the 18-and-under category. She went on to take one gold in the 2002 National Championships, and gold in the 2003 World Championships, as well as one gold and two bronze medals at the 2011 World Championships. 

Correia post retirement wants to encourage water safety in the black community. “You hear 10 people drown in the U.S. every day, and 70 percent of black children don’t know how to swim.” That’s why Correia now serves as a spokeswoman for Swim 1922, hoping to introduce African Americans to the sport and teaching them basic water skills. 

As the first black female swimmer on the Olympic team, she paved the way for other great black swimmers like Cullen Jones and Simone Manuel to be on the Olympic team and achieve greatness. She said that she “wanted to inspire other minorities to get involved with swimming and love it as much as I do. This is what Correia has been up to since her retirement as she has been involved in consulting Team USA swimming and making sure that there is more diversity in swimming programs all over the USA

Simone Manuel

In 2016 Simone Manuel made history when she became the first African American woman to win an individual Olympic gold medal in swimming for the United States during the Rio games and set an Olympic record in the process. She walked away from the 2016 games with a total of four metals (2 gold, 2 silver), and since then she has continued to crush records and collect metals swimming in pools around the globe. 

Not only has Manuel accomplished a social-changing moment in sports history, she is also a strong advocate for minority swimmers. She conducts swimming clinics around the country to encourage minorities to learn how to swim and has gathered sponsors to help promote her message.

Simone has been extremely vocally about the rights of African Americans in USA especially during the protests over George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and the treatment of black Americans by the police. Simone is on her way to become an idol for so many young girls of colour and the swimming sport.