Why is there no black swimmers

They treat the water like fire. It undoubtedly helps for people of color to see others that look like them competing at the Olympics.

Swimmers such as Jones, Manuel, Neal — and now Hinds — will certainly help to chip away at those racial barriers. Paul Newberry is a sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at pnewberry at ap. Sections U. Science Technology Business U. Column: White-dominated swimming struggles to diversify. Olympic swimming trials in Omaha, Neb. Terrill, File. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news.

The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Nature and nurture both play a role. Tim Benzedrine, Vancouver Canada The accepted, and perhaps a little bit unpleasant, answer is that black people have a higher muscle density than white people.

This makes them less buoyant, but is supposed to explain their apparent innate superiority in boxing, sprinting etc. Also worth noting, however, is that to practice running requires no special equipment. Nor is a dedicated arena necessary to realise a natural gift for boxing. Neither Brixton, nor Brooklyn, nor many African nations have Olympic sized metre pools.

Economic factors are more likely to be responsible for the apparent clear distinction between the disciplines. Harry, Bristol I have a slightly different take on it from Tim. I would argue that it is entirely nurture and not nature. The type of physique that tends to do well in swimming now, i. Unfortunately, they are also useful in basketball and volleyball. So, it becomes a very simple question of opportunity vs opportunity cost.

The sad fact is that there is not a critical mass of black middle-class people who have exccess to pools and training facilities as white middle-class urbanites do.

On the other hand, go out, practise your basketball, and you might become the next Michael Jordan and make millions. The same can't be said of volleyball, a sport that requires much of the same set of skills but have far fewer financial rewards. As a result, both volleyball and swimming don't get the cream of the black athletic population.

Where the occasional Black swimmer, like the US's Sabir Muhammad, has emerged, eschewing basketball and the like, they have done well. Unfortunately, there are not enough of them who have gone into the sport.

Nicholas, Singapore Coloured? Are you implying that some of the athletes do not have a colour? Does that mean I am colour blind because I can't see them? Exactly what colour swimmers would you like to see? Blue, Green, Orange perhaps????

After desegregation, Blacks who excelled in the sport had to figure out how to gain access to the private and pricy members-only clubs where swim meets are typically held. I wonder how many talented Black swimmers turned away from the sport because it was too hard to swim against the current of so many obstacles. She hosts Basic Black, which focuses on current events impacting communities of color and appears weekly on Beat the Press, examining local and national media coverage.

United States' Simone Manuel celebrates winning the gold medal in the women's meter freestyle during the swimming competitions at the Summer Olympics, Aug. By Callie Crossley.

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