• Report The mystery of Mireia Belmonte 10 days before the Games: "She is not at her best level"

Recounted

Cullen Jones

, the black swimmer most successful in history, Olympic champion in Games of Beijing 2008 and London 2012, who discovered the inequality at age 15 when, in a school competition in New York, beat a white guy and his mother confronted him in very bad ways. "It was my first important victory and that woman came and said to me: 'Shouldn't you be playing basketball?" Recalled the current Speedo coach and manager in response to the question that for decades has bordered the swimming pools around the world: Why are there no black swimmers?

"It is a matter of lack of tradition, lack of social culture or lack of access to facilities rather than a matter of anatomy. There are many myths that should be banished", explains

Pedro L. Valenzuela

, researcher at Health Sciences at the University of Alcalá de Henares (UAH) and editor of the Fissac magazine, with a myth to erase above all: bone density.

According to legend, the bones of the Negroes weigh more, therefore they float less and, consequently, they swim worse. "As always happens, that is a half truth or, rather, a half lie. It is proven that the average bone mineral density of black people is higher than the average of Caucasian people. It is also proven that people with more bone mineral density, for example with dysplasia, sink deeper into the water. But whether all this is relevant to swimming is very doubtful. To begin with because we are talking about socks and there will always be disparate people. And to continue because there are many other anatomical elements that determine the performance of an athlete in the water. If the mineral bone density were so decisive, the marks of men, who on average have more density,they would be worse than women's brands ", determines Valenzuela, with several examples to banish that belief.

Testosterone, another falsehood

If long ago

Enith Brigitha

, Cullen Jones or

Lia Neal

appeared as specific demands, in the next Tokyo Games a small generation of black swimmers will emerge willing to show themselves off.

The leader: Simone Manuel.

In the Rio 2016 Games, his golds in the 100 freestyle and the 4x100 freestyle were a surprise, but after showing off in the last World Cups with four golds and three silvers, his media profile is higher.

The overtraining syndrome forced her to stop at the beginning of years and in the United States Trials she could only qualify for the 50 meters freestyle, but the spotlights will be on her anyway.

It will also count, in its selection, with the company of the young

Natalie Hinds

, who will be in the 4x100 relay and, in other teams, such as the United Kingdom, with

Alice Dearing

, the first British black swimmer in a Games.

One gold from Manuel - or two if he finally swims a relay - would serve to erase myths, although it will possibly take years for him not to fall for them.

Mainly because many are remade, reinvented.

The legend of bone density has been paired in recent times, with the appearance of Manuel, with the legend of testosterone.

As it happened in athletics, today in swimming it is considered that blacks can win, yes, but mainly in short distances.

"The same thing happens with bone mineral density. A certainty, such as the fact that the average testosterone of black people is higher, is used to establish a falsehood. That does not mean that they cannot win long swimming tests. Although it is possible that due to musculature, for example, black swimmers are always pushed to shorter tests, "explains Valenzuela, returning to culture, education, access to facilities as a reason for the absence of black swimmers in big events.

The figure of Manuel in the next Games can help to advance in that sense.

After all, the same thing happened with

Tiger Woods

in golf or

Serena Williams

in tennis.

Other sports, such as cycling and skiing, expect a similar change.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Olympic swimming

  • HBPR

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