Didn’t I tell you? Maritza Correia’s ‘first’ of yesterday was only a warmup. Today we discuss two of her accomplishments that she made on the way to the 2004 Olympics. Maritza was the first black female swimmer to set an American record.

At the 2002 NCAA Championships, Maritza Correia broke two American and NCAA records. In the 50, she broke the record held by 4 time Olympic gold medalist Amy Van Dyken and in the 100, she broke the record held by Jenny Thompson, the most decorated American swimmer in Olympic history.

Something tells me this is not the last time in this list we’ll hear from Miss Correia. . .

Tonight we focus on the NCAA. Maritza Correia won both the 50 free and the 100 Free at the 2002 NCAA Championships, making her the first black woman to win an NCAA Division 1 Championship. Given her impressive record, this is not the last we’ll hear from Correia on this countdown. I was so disappointed when she retired from competitive swimming. Maybe I should take myself to a Black Heritage Swim Meet if I want to see Maritza in action.

As we near the end of the countdown, I am experiencing deja vous. Take today’s ‘first’ for example. Today’s first is the first black swimmer to make the US Swim Team. Can anybody answer?

I’ll give you a hint. I’ve featured him a couple times already. I’ve tried to unravel the mystery that is this swimmer. Another hint: he tied for gold? In 2000? And later sold his medal on ebay for tsunami relief?

That’s right. It’s Anthony Ervin. To recap his Olympic glory, he tied for gold in the 50 M free with Gary Hall Jr. He also got a silver in the 400 free relay at those 2000 games in Sydney.

Since then, he has quit swimming, taken up music, returned to swimming, and auctioned off his gold medal to help others.

What I can surmise from some of these crash and burn stories is that becoming an elite swimmer is grueling work; sometimes you don’t walk away from that training without repercussions. Why do you think some of these athletes have emotional meltdowns and others retire with grace?

I’m sensing a theme here. I keep running into swimmers I’ve featured before. Today we run into Alison Terry again.

She was the first Black Swimmer to make a US National team. That was 1999, for the Pan American Games. Unfortunately, she fell just short of making the US Olympic team the following year.

Alison struggled with many things in her young life, but she was able to overcome them to have success in the sport. I am glad that her place is secure in the top 20 Black History Swimming Firsts.

Tonight we feature a very decorated swim hero.

Sabir Muhammad was the first black swimmer to set an American record. He did this in 1997, swimming the short course 100 M fly.

Muhammad was a very decorated swimmer with several other ‘firsts’ under his belt: 1. In 1994, he became first Black swimmer to compete on the Varsity men’s swim team at Stanford University
2. In 1995, he was the first black swimmer to qualify for the Pan-Pacific Games.
3. While on the resident swim team at the Olympic training center, he was the first recipient of the William E. Simon Olympic Endowment award, and voted US Olympic Center’s Athlete of the Month.
4. In 1999, he competed in the Pan-Pacific Games, becoming the first Black co-captain of a US International Swim Team.
5. In 2000, he competed in the World Short Course Championships where he became the first black swimmer to win a medal at a major International swimming competition.

The 6 foot 7 inch swimmer was something of a media darling, featured in a 1999 episode of Baywatch, the 2001 Sports Illustrated Swim Suit Edition, as well as various magazines and television news programs.

Muhammad takes swim literacy so seriously that he started ‘Swim for Life!’ to teach Atlanta youths to swim.

Also known as the continuation of #11. Anthony Nesty was the first black man to win an NCAA Div 1 championship. He won it for 100 fly three times, from 1990-92, and for the 200 fly once, in 1992. I knew the brother was excellent. I’m finding out just how excellent.