Page 37 - LionKing

But being a good swimmer doesn’t mean you can just go and compete in the Olympics. The training regimen, the diet, the exercise etc. etc. etc., were things that I had no knowledge of, let alone having any idea how important they were.”
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But this problem of lack of formal swim- ming facilities does not mean that there is a lack of swimming ability. Most coun- tries in Africa that have large bodies of water, like Nigeria, have people who are natural born swimmers: I have certainly seen many of such in places like Delta State. The real problem here is that while we have a lot of Black people in Africa who can swim, we lack the structures to take their natural swimming ability to the next level and represent our countries and our continent in competitions like the Olympics.
Growing up I was convinced I was going to be an Olympic swimmer. I suffered from asthma attacks as a child and my mother took me swimming at Ikoyi Club
in Lagos every Wednesday as my doctor told her that was a good way to improve my breathing (side note, it was very good advice and it worked). By doing this I grew to love swimming and joined the Ikoyi Club squad so I could compete. I continued competing up till I was 14 and then I realized it was a dream I had to let go of (especially when I came third out of four in a race. This had never happened before, so I guess you can say I’m a really sore loser). But being a good swimmer doesn’t mean you can just go and com- pete in the Olympics. The training regi- men, the diet, the exercise etc. etc. etc., were things that I had no knowledge of, let alone having any idea how important
they were. And I am definitely privileged to a certain degree. Most Africans do not have access to places like Ikoyi Club, talk less of having access to the right trainers, diet and facilities.
Slowly though, we are beginning to over- come this stereotype. Enith Brigitha was the first black person to win an Olympic medal in 1976 showing black people can swim, and even win swimming com- petitions. People like Cullen Jones, who has won four silver medals, and Simone Manuel, who recently became the first black person to win a gold medal in the 2016 Olympics in Rio, continue to break the barrier. While it would be nice to
see more Africans (especially – for me – Nigerians) in the Olympics, it is still great to see people who are my ‘colour’ achiev- ing great successes in this field.
I said ‘partly racism and partly develop- ment’. But if we’re going to be really honest with ourselves, there’s one other impediment to the attainment of swim- ming glory by Black people. The main and biggest problem with black people swimming, especially us black women, is ... OUR HAIR!!!!
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