The well of black swimmers seems to be endless. I found this swimmer, Enith Brigitha with just a little googling. Born in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, Brigitha swam for Holland in the 70s. She first became a force to be reckoned with in 1970, swimming the 100m free at 1:05.0, while still in Curocao. She moved to Holland in 1971 and made their national team, swimming the 100 at 1:00.5, the 10th best female time that year.

She went to the Olympics in 1972 and won a medal for relay, and had shaved another 20+ seconds off her time in the 100m free. (she also swam the 200m and 400 m freestyle) During that year, Brigitha tried the backstroke for the whimsy of it, and was competitive in that stroke as well.

In 1973, Enith Brigitha won bronze in the first World Championships. By 1974, her time in the 100m free was 57:68. She also had competitive times in backstroke that year, as well as in my favorite event, the individual medley, of IM. The IM is where a swimmer swims one (or more) lengths of four strokes: butterfly, back, breast and freestyle.

In the 1976 Olympics, Brigitha swam: 50, 100, 200, 400 free, 100 IM, and 100 back! That sounds like somebody who loves swimming and is really good at it! She swam the 100 free in 56.61 seconds, winning a bronze medal. She also won bronze in the 200 m freestyle that year.

I’d look like that after swimming that much!

She continued swimming, slowing down just slightly in 1977 to 56.7 in the 100, and adding a couple seconds to her 200 time.

Just another swimmer putting an ax to root of the tree that says black folks can’t swim.