At first glance, the U.S. Olympic swim team should evoke excitement, showcasing a group of athletes pursuing their lifelong dreams. However, for certain bitter liberals, the issue lies elsewhere – the team is too white.
In light of the recent US Olympic Swimming Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, which concluded on Sunday, Professor Janel George of Georgetown University Law school used her platform on X to bring up the legacy of Jim Crow segregation. She pointed out the correlation between the predominantly white team composition and the lasting effects of segregated swimming pools.
While acknowledging the importance of this legacy, George’s implicit conclusion that the US Olympic swim team is guilty of discrimination against black athletes cannot be overlooked. However, this bias would be conveniently forgotten when discussing equally predominantly non-white teams from sports like track and field, basketball, football, or tennis.
The saying “U.S. Olympic swim team is the hardest team to make in the world” rings particularly true. With only two athletes eligible for each individual event and a limited number of team spots, the pool of talented US swimmers is exceptionally competitive. To emphasize this, athletes who vied for spots on the team at trials narrowly missed out, despite holding the potential to win Olympic medals.
Conversely, the true discriminator here is not race, but rather the pursuit of excellence. The US Swimming Trials, in some events, present even more challenging competition than the Olympics itself.
Swimming doesn’t discriminate by race. It discriminates only against those who don’t touch the wall first.
