Why no diversity in the US men's swimming team?

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by RMESMH

As a lifelong 49er's and Raiders fan, I think that ^^^^^ (drafting Jerry Rice) was one of the best decisions made by a coach in NFL history. I played on teams with Mike Dotterer before his dad moved them to Orange County. He was the best pure athlete I ever had as a teammate as a kid. We nicknamed him Speedy. He was all set to go to Harvard, but Bill Walsh came to his house in Orange County and convinced him to go to Stanford instead. Unless there has been another one recently, I believe Mike is the only athlete to ever earn 4 letters in football and 4 letters in baseball at Stanford, and he's in the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame. IMO, Mike is another of many examples of Bill Walsh's ability to spot talent.

Yes. I've heard of Dotterer as I live near Stanford. Thank you for sharing.

[TristramShandy]

Originally Posted by Ralph_Kirk

But being half-white got nobody into a "Whites Only" bathroom.


It was in the 20s and 30s that miscegenation laws began to be most stringently enforced in the US, btw, as part of the overall immigration and eugenics salients of the day, so notice that it got dropped from the census--because it no longer mattered. Being half black was considered black after that point.

True. You had the one drop laws in the 1800s and such. But of course it was a case of visibility rather than percentages - - what you looked like was how you were treated.

[hooligan]

Originally Posted by green_mariner

Somehow, I wonder if it was a joke. Either way, I'm Black and I can swim. If what that person said isn't a joke, I stand as living contradiction, and so does my father(who gave me my first swimming lessons).

Of course it was a joke. Are you really unaware of the stereotype?


It would be like saying "white guys can't jump" or "white people can't dance".


I'm white and I can jump and dance, so I stand as a living contradiction to those stereotypes, too.


As Cris Carter would say: "C'mon, man!".

[The Dark Enlightenment]

Originally Posted by madpaddy

Sprint training, be it running or swimming, is largely about optimizing the density and performance of Type IIb fast-twitch muscle fibers. Admittedly, there's a larger technique element to swimming, but it's nothing that can't be instilled with good coaching and years of repetition. We haven't really seen anyone, be they black, white, or other, excel at both sports at the Olympic or World Championship level because, frankly, it takes a full time training commitment just to get good at one or the other. Furthermore, the body development for one is detrimental to the other; excessive lower body bulk hurts a swimmer more than it helps.

The over-representation (relative to overall population distribution) of African Americans in track sprinting at the elite (college and national team) levels suggests that there's a greater frequency in that community of the genetic makeup that leads to a body composition that responds favorably to sprint training. I strongly contend that the reason we don't see more African Americans swimming at the elite level is entirely because we get so few of them involved in the sport at an early age.

Entirely? If genetic predisposition toward sprinter-type bodies is an important factor in black success, and ideal swimmer bodies are significantly different , then why would you assume that the relative lack of successful blacks in swimming is all about childhood participation rates? Isn't is more logical to suppose that fewer black people are genetically gifted for swimming than for running?

Things are changing slowly. Some may be surprised by Simone Manuel's success, but I'm not. OK, I'll admit I'm a bit surprised she won the gold, but I expected her to be a medal contender. I've been following her for a couple years, along with her Stanford (and US National Team) teammate Lia Neal. Both were part of an all-African-American podium for the 100 freestyle at the 2015 NCAA Division I Women's Swimming Championship.
Hopefully this Olympic win by Emanuel will inspire more young African American girls to take up competitive swimming in the future.

I'm sure some will be inspired to try swimming but if recent history with the debuts of Tiger Woods as a young black golf champion and the Williams sisters as tennis stars are any guide, the new age of black swimming dominance will not materialize.