Black People CAN and DO Swim, Part 2: African-American Firsts

African-American firsts in competitive swimming history:

• ◆ The first African- American swimmer to score in an NCAA final was Nate Clark of Ohio State, in 1962.
  
• ◆ The first swimmer of African descent to win an Olympic medal was Enith Brigitha of Curacao, Netherlands Antilles. Enith won two individual bronze medals in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. The only swimmers to beat her have since been proven to have used performance enhancing drugs.
  
• ◆ In 1981 Charles Chapman became the first African American to swim across the English Channel.
  
• ◆ The first African American swimmer to make a US National Team was Chris Silva of UCLA, in 1982.
  
• ◆ In 1988, Anthony Nesty, of Surinam and the University of Florida upset favored Matt Biondi to become the first swimmer of African heritage to set an Olympic record and win an Olympic Gold medal.
  
• ◆ In 1997 Stanford’s Sabir Muhammad became the first African- American to break an American record.
  
• ◆ In 1999 Alison Terry became the first African- American female swimmer to make a US National Team.
  
• ◆ In 2000, Anthony Ervin became the first American swimmer of African descent to make the USA Olympic Swimming Team and win an Olympic gold medal.
  
• ◆ In 2004, Maritza Corriea became the first woman to make a USA Olympic Team.
  
• ◆ In 2005, Genai Kerr and Omar Amr become the first African-American men to make the USA Olympic Water Polo Team.