"Madden Toby is a TV critic, editor and entertainment reporter, and mother to a 6-year-old who loves to swim." Mekeisha Madden Toby
The next time a friend, family member or random stranger tells me, "black people don't swim," I will happily and defiantly say Simone Manuel's name and shut down any and all rebuttals.
And the next time my brilliant and boundlessly energetic 6-year-old daughter, Zoe, asks me to take her to the pool, I will think of Manuel and smile as I imagine a future where my child could grow up and be just like the 20-year-old powerhouse.
I used to say Zoe would be the Serena Williams of the swimming world. Now I can say that my Zoe will be the next Simone Manuel. Our little one has been taking swimming lessons since the age of 3, not long after I noticed how much she loved splashing around at pool parties and the like. She has always adored bath time, but this was something more, something special.
This is not the relationship I had with water sports as a kid. There weren't an ample amount of public or private pools in my native Detroit. Couple that deficiency with the fact that an 8-year-old classmate had drowned in a pool accident and I can't say that I was exactly seeking out time in the water aside from the fire hydrant on our street or the occasional kiddie pool.
My viewpoint changed in my 20s when I decided to take adult swim classes and overcome my fear. I've been swimming ever since and can now count snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef for my 30th birthday as one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced. It also made me that much more determined to make sure my child knew how to swim. I desperately wanted her to have a sense of fearlessness in the water that I didn't have at her age.
These are the thoughts that filled my heart and mind as I watched Manuel, a Stanford University junior, make history and go on to become a two-time gold and two-time silver medalist in Rio. As the first African-American woman to win an individual gold in swimming, she's the promise of broken barriers, defied stereotypes and expedited dreams.
Manuel is an Olympic champion who looks like me, my daughter, my nieces and my friends. Even though there is no way in the world I will ever reach the championship heights the Texas native has in the pool, my daughter might. In the meantime, I can take relaxing swims and bask in the knowledge that these cool blue waters, they welcome us all.
More on Simone Manuel
• Essay: Manuel inspired me to learn to swim Story »
• Manuel on life after the Olympics Story »
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