Black swimmer makes history at world championships

[okaawhatever]

Source: CNN



(CNN) -- The look of total surprise on her face said it all.

Alia Atkinson went into the final of the 100m breaststroke at the world short course swimming championships very much as the second favorite to Olympic champion Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania.

But in a big upset the 25-year-old from Jamaica snatched victory on the final stroke from Meilutyte and with it made swimming history.

Not only had she equaled Meiluyte's world best but also became the first swimmer black woman to claim a world title in the pool.

Continued at Link

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/07/sport/swimming-atkinson-world-first/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

[truthisfreedom]

1. Cool!

[Marrah_G]

2. Fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rocktivity]

3. For me, that's only the SECOND best swimmer's reaction ever

Last edited Wed Feb 23, 2022, 11:51 PM - Edit history (3)

Summer Sanders once thought she'd finished so far out of the money she didn't even look at the leaderboard as she held on to the edge of the pool. The camera stayed on her as she caught her breath and finally started looking for her name -- on the lower part of the board. You could see her confusion mounting: Had she been disqualified? Had she simply skipped over her name? But she finally looked all the way up, and her freakout was epic! "I thought I'd finished fourth," she explained afterward.

Congrats, Alia!


rocktivity

[Spitfire of ATJ]

4. As someone who was on the high school swim team I can tell you that you lose track of others.

[MadDAsHell]

5. Why is her race being called out?

At some point we need to stop acting like every time a person of color accomplishes something it's some big surprise; it's insulting.

Like does anyone actually ask people of color if we want our race pointed out every single time we achieve something, regardless of the field (politics, sports, entertainment, etc.), or is it just assumed we all do?

[AverageJoe90]

6. I understand your point.

TBH, though, they were just pointing out the milestone, the fact that she happened to be THE first woman of African heritage, to win the championship. Not sure I see the problem in *this* instance.

[MadDAsHell]

7. Actually the article never even talked about her heritage...

"Africa" wasn't mentioned even once, only "black."

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. She says it too:

KINGSTON, Jamaica – World joint record holder for the short course 100m breaststroke, Jamaica's Alia Atkinson took to the social media, Twitter and Instagram, following her record equalling swim yesterday to give her personal thoughts on her accomplishment.

This is what the ace swimmer wrote; "This is more than about me. A country...a nation, a race. First Jamaican swimmer, first female swimmer from the Caribbean, and I believe first black female swimmer in over 40 yrs. This is not just mine. #Caribbean waive is coming #likkle but we tallawah #never give up #never surrender"

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/More-than-about-me--ndash--Alia-Atkinson

Interesting she says "first in over 40 yrs", though. That may imply she knows about someone the sports writers have forgotten about.

On edit: ah, the world championship is the first ever, and it's about a record from before short course pools were internationally recognised for records:

Alia Atkinson made history in Doha this evening when she became the first black woman – and racer from Jamaica either gender – to win a world swimming title – and the moment came with a fourth line in the history books: in 1:02.36, she matched the world record of the woman she pipped, Ruta Meilutyte, Olympic and World l/c champion.

The first black woman ever to hold a world s/c record – in the days before FINA recognised standards in the little pool – was Enith Brigitha, of The Netherlands, 40 years ago. Brigitha, beaten by East Germans at major meets throughout her career, set the 100m freestyle standard three times in her career, overtaking Shane Gould‘s 58.1 from 1971 with a 57.04 in 1974. (I went swimming with Gould today – a thrilling experience on a day when Atkinson’s swim gave us reason to recall the world of water four decades ago).

http://www.swimvortex.com/alia-atkinson-with-wr-first-black-woman-world-champ-40yrs-after-pioneer-brigitha/

[mimi85]

11. I tend to agree with you...

I asked my husband and he said you could look at it two ways. He said how people always seemed to state that blacks can't swim and she's proven them wrong. I vaguely remember this same disagreement when Arthur Ashe was playing tennis. I honestly don't know how to feel. But congrats to her no matter what. Oh, there was also Greg Louganis who was gay and it was a big deal. Ridiculous.

[Yo_Mama]

12. Well, it's a great photo and a great sports story, and the ethnic part just adds to it. n/t

[Cha]

8. Awesome! Mahalo okaawhatever!

Bet malaise is happy, too!

[rocktivity]

10. Here's the video

rocktivity

[eppur_se_muova]

13. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! nt

[Sunlei]

14. Jamaica!!

[Judi Lynn]

15. Great news! Thanks. n/t