BY SUE B. SIMON

Texas native Simone Manuel, a black Olympian swimmer, has qualified for the women’s 50-meter freestyle for the upcoming Paris Olympic Games, beating her rival for the first spot, Gretchen Walsh, by 0.02 seconds. The news carries a special weight because, despite recent progress, black swimmers’ rise in swimming is still a relative novelty.

The 27-year-old swimming champion had already secured a spot on the U.S. team as a relay swimmer. This feat came after Manuel’s struggle with overtraining syndrome before the Tokyo Olympic Games. The condition results from athletes suffering physical and emotional decline due to intense exercise.

Swimming being colored black is nothing really new. In March 2015, three African American young swimmers, Simone Manuel, Lia Neal, and Natalie Hinds made history by sweeping the three top places (coming respectively 1-2-3) in the 100-yard freestyle at the NCAA championships. Then, at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Simone Manuel won two gold and two silver medals: gold in the 100-meter freestyle and the 4×100-meter medley, and silver in the 50-meter freestyle and the 4 x 100-meter freestyle. By winning the 100-meter freestyle, thereby tying Canada’s Penny Oleksiak, Manuel became the first African American woman to win an individual Olympic gold in swimming and set an Olympic record and an American record.