Simone Manuel’s historic gold medal inspires Houston community

As the first African-American woman to win gold in an individual Olympic swimming event, Simone Manuel knew the colour of her skin would generate more interest than the colour of the medal she had just won. I’m just gonna try to have fun and swim as fast as I can.

“Then my husband saw Olympic record and saw she had gotten first”, Sharron told The Associated Press by phone Friday.

The win has kids diving into pools like the one at the YMCA in Downtown Detroit, not just hoping to be the next Phelps but, like one 13-year-old girl, to be the next Manuel. In the first half of the 1900’s, pools were built across the United States, but segregation kept black Americans from joining.

Manuel commented on police brutality, calling her win significant given the political climate in the US, where it is every other day that the public hears about police killing civilians.”It means a lot, especially with what is going on in the world today, some of the issues of police brutality”, Manuel told reporters, according to USA Today. She’d like to remain free of the burden, and not because she doesn’t want to be a role model.

Manuel, who attends Stanford and has a brother who played basketball at SMU, looks forward to a time when there is greater diversity in the pool.

“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.

Manuel has made the most of her historic moment too. “I was her very first swim teacher”, said Tracy Lamon.

But now her daughter is part of the history, part of that learning process.

The headline was posted on the newspaper’s website, but quickly removed and replaced with one carrying Manuel’s name with Phelps’.

Her fear of the water, like that of my mother and so many other black people I know, is real.

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. My childhood was filled with memories of beach visits, games of Marco Polo, and my dad tossing me around in the water.

“This medal is not just for me”, she said. “Because the rest of the routine was pretty good”.