Simone Manuel. She’s the first African-American woman to win Olympic gold in an individual swimming event.
“Firsts” take over media coverage in the Olympics, but this first is significantly more notable than any other. Why? Her win is imperative to the longevity and appeal of the wonderful sport that is swimming.
In recent years, swimming has grown in popularity, largely due to the fascination with Michael Phelps. As Phelps smashes record after record, the media frenzy surrounding swimming grows even more. Swimming is now a premier sport in the Olympics, earning prime time coverage. With more coverage of the sport, more kids are taking up swimming. However, the sport is white dominated, since the most decorated swimmers up until this point are, for the most part, white.
With the increase in media exposure of the sport, white kids from middle and upper-class families flock to the pools to take up swimming. Very rarely will you see non-white swimmers on the swim teams at suburban pools, high schools and colleges. This is slowly changing, though. Simone Manuel is redefining the face of swimming, and extending the appeal of the sport to not just white kids, but to all kids. It’s super important to diversify this sport in America since it’s so much fun! By being a gold medal Olympic swimmer, Manuel shows kids everywhere that it doesn’t matter what your skin color is. If you work hard, you can be a great swimmer too.
With a positive non-white role model for kids to look up to, it’s to be expected that the interest in swimming will extend to a more diverse group. It is really a great thing for Simone Manuel to set an example because the increased interest is imperative to the longevity of the sport.
Simone Manuel is paving the way for people who otherwise would never take up swimming because it is seen as a “white people sport.” Swimming is not at all limited to just one race. Swimming is for everyone! With the face of swimming changing, it’s great to see more diversity in the sport. Swimming is wonderful and fun! The more people involved, the better.
Why is it such a good thing that more people will get involved after seeing Simone Manuel? Because swimming is an important, fun, healthy, and educational sport. The more people who get involved, the less obesity there will be, the more happy people will be and the more togetherness there will be.
At a time where some of us are so divided on race issues, one of the things that brings people together is sports. It’s important that everyone, regardless of race, is involved in sports because they can be used as a tool to learn from each other. We aren’t as different as we seem to be. We aren’t as divided as we think. While there is still a long way to go, we are starting to overcome the obstacles preventing participation in swimming.
Swimming is wonderful and fun regardless of race, and Simone Manuel shows that perfectly. She is a great role model for kids who otherwise wouldn’t take up the sport because of its face. That face is changing, and it is for the betterment of the sport and society as a whole. Unlike people, the pool has no prejudice.
