The 100M trials final last night was a field of big men. The average height of swimmers in finals was 6’4″. At 6’5″, Cullen Jones may have been lost in the field if it hadn’t been for his dark skin. While the commentators went on and on about Jason Lezak and his advantages and disadvantages, and Garret Weber-Gale and his strength and speed, I watched Cullen Jones.

He was slightly behind the pack at the turn, and did a slow burn towards the finish. There were few people pulling ahead the whole race. I noticed the swimmer in lane 7, (Ben Wildman-Tobriner), next to Jones, speeding up. The commentators mentioned that Wildman-Tobriner was challenging the leader. Then I watched Jones pull closer to the wall. “He won,” I shouted. Then I saw the names of number one and two in the water. Weber-Gale and Lezak. Jones came in third.

Then I heard the commentator say that Cullen Jones is a first time Olympian, and they do take the top 6. Phew!

Weber-Gale’s first place time was 47.92. Jason Lezak came in at 48.05, and Cullen Jones finished at 48.35. For perspective, the guy who came in 8th clocked a time of 48.93. It was a close race indeed.

The movie Pride told part of Jim Ellis’ story. Brielle White, one of his swimmers, may well tell another part. Pictured here with coaches Ellis (right) and Tracy Freeland, Brielle White graduated from the University of Virginia in 2006 and trains every day with the PDR (Philadelphia Department of Recreation) swim club, the Olympics her goal.

White says she started swimming like my friend Char–her mother threw her in the water when she was 3. By 6, she was swimming competitively with Jim Ellis’ team. Brielle White has been a nationally ranked backstroker since she was 9 years old.

The 5’10 swimmer is used to being the top swimmer in her club; Brielle White was a seven-time All-American at Virginia. She knows how hard she will have to work to make the Olympic team, and has made the shifts necessary to prepare.

Like Cullen Jones, Brielle Smith started out swimming on an inner city team, to go on to be the only black face on their college team. She knows a little something about sub-par facilities. Excellent coaching made up for what the pool lacked. For all the talk about minority swimmers’ lack of access and facilities, both of these swimmers have made it happen, and hope to inspire others to follow them.

This Olympic swim trial promises to be an interesting one.

btw, the first Black man to win Olympic gold in swimming was Anthony Ervin, who tied with Gary Hall jr. for first place in the 50 free at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney Austrailia.

I had read about this swimmer in Splash magazine for a couple years. The first black woman on the US Olympic swim team, it said. I saw that last name and thought, hmm, black, huh?

Then I read her story. Maritza Correia was born in Puerto Rico, but moved to US at 7. She was diagnosed with scoliosis in Puerto Rico, and the Dr. recommended swimming to treat her curved spine. She started swimming in the US, and something just clicked.

So she stuck with it, swimming in the age group swim clubs, up through US swimming, and she swam on the University of Georgia swim team. She tried out for the Olympic team in 2000. She was at the top of her game, ready to represent. Maritza, nicknamed Ritz could have swum for her native Puerto Rico, but preferred the challenge of making the US team.

Then she didn’t make the team. Heartbroken, Ritz returned to college, where she had a decision to make. Should she forget about her Olympic dream, or train harder and go for it? After being consoled by her coach and University of Georgia teammates, Ritz decided to go for it!

She trained her butt off. In 2001, Ritz won a gold medal in the 800m freestyle and two bronze medals in the medley and 400m freestyle relay as a member of the U.S. Team at the 2001 World Championship celebrated in Japan. She won both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle in the 2002 NCAA championships, becoming the first African-American woman to win an NCAA championship. In both events, Ritz set American records, bettering the marks of two Olympic gold medalists (Amy Van Dyken and Jenny Thompson) in the process. She also earned seven All-American certificates and she was awarded the Commissioner’s Cup as the high point scorer in the SEC Championships.
In 2003, Correia earned a gold medal swimming on prelim 400 m free relay at the World Championships.

Ritz went all out in the 2004 Olympic trials. She thought if she didn’t make this team, it may be her last shot at it. She went for it. .. and made the team! She had the fourth fastest time in the 100 M free, good enough to represent the USA. Her race in the 2004 Olympics was like the first event, so she missed the opening ceremony. The US relay team won the silver medal in the 4×100 relay. So all her hard work paid off with a silver medal. At the Olympic Games in Athens, Correia was on the silver-medal-winning 400-meter relay team, despite not making the cut as one of the four who swam in the final medal race. It was a disappointing finish to her Olympic experience, but she appreciated every moment nonetheless.

She was young, 22, and came home to finish college, and get ready for another shot at Olympic glory. I was looking forward to finally watching her swim at this year’s Olympics.

But Ritz retired from swimming in April. She cited shoulder injuries as the problem, and she was grateful for the time off from swimming to be able to help take care of her father before he recently passed away.

Ironically, she may be more visible post retirement as a Nike spokesman, a role model to encourage minority children to swim, and she’s featured in Parting the Waters, a swimming documentary.

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.

I just found out about this swimmer from Suriname, Anthony Nester. He’s a coach at the University of Florida now, but he won the gold medal for 100m fly in the 1988 Olympics. I also found out about a woman from Dutch Antilles that swam for Holland in the 50s. More on her next time. It’s fascinating to find these Black Olympians of the swim world with a little googling.