In the SwimSwam Podcast dive deeper into the sport you love with insider conversations about swimming. Hosted by Coleman Hodges, Garrett McCaffrey, and Gold Medal Mel Stewart, SwimSwam welcomes both the biggest names in swimming that you already know, and rising stars that you need to get to know, as we break down the past, present, and future of aquatic sports.
Anthony Ervin, the oldest individual Olympic gold medalist in swimming history, is savoring his last run-up to U.S. Olympic Trials. At 40 years old, his experience is unique, and, personally, very meaningful. He laughed at my 50m free prediction game video, but he appreciated that I forecasted him under 22 seconds. Anthony isn’t sure he’ll be under 22 seconds at U.S. Olympic Trials, but he did share that he’s feeling moments of that familiar-sprint-flow in training with Coach David Marsh.
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Music: Otis McDonald
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Opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the interviewed guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of the hosts, SwimSwam Partners, LLC and/or SwimSwam advertising partners.
There is no racism in America, we let Cullen Jones swim in the olympics dammit!
*yes, this is sarcasm.
What if the actor had not shot Abe & he implemented his idea of repatriating slaves back to Africa? Or if the Czars had not pushed out Ashenazi because they were nuisances?
There would be no Anthony .
Corn pop those types of things go over the heads of the bleeding hearts around here.
revisionist nonsense… what if that asteroid hadn’t hit the earth, there would be no humans today and no racism.
Yes! If we looked at things from such a Macro viewpoint , we would not have any mental health problems . We are fortunate to be here on earth . Thank You.
Swimming as an institution is still a racist, classist, country club sport and that is rearing its ugly head right now in this comment section. The United States was founded with the protection of peaceful protest against tyranny. The reactionary-Right, created by the fake-liberal sensationalist “Left” that has taken power, has joined the old money conservatives in this gross display of un-American “nationalism”. Swimming will never grow to its full potential as a sport until the socioeconomic demographics of the sport match that of the general population. Be a fly on the wall at your local flagship state university at a party at the swim house and tell me how many hard R’s you hear. Bonus points if you’re north… Read more »
Totally with you. We need to take black people out of the NBA and NFL and add more white and asian guys. The representation is horrible
While we’re at it let’s put more women in prison, those 90% who are men need a break.
Bonus points if you think we should give handicaps to the taller swimmers because they’re getting an advantage over the shorter swimmers who are always complaining about being shorter.
My swim team is full of literal communists who think Mao was good and who wear BLM masks. I don’t think you can say they’re dropping hard Rs at parties.
haha, someone who still believes Communists exist, China, the country with more Billionaires & sweat shops in the world, that’s capitalism to me.
Oh great, the swim community opining about racism :/
This is a simply great podcast and I encourage all the commenters to actually watch!
I am not challenging anybody. It’s easy to complain and easy to throw a temper tantrum. Everyone on this web site is writing from a position of privilege. Instead of complaining and arguing about racism what can we do that is positive. I can respect Jim Ellis for starting the PDR swim team which comprised 90% black swimmers that went on to achieve national and junior national time standards. But if Anthony Ervin thinks it so racist what is he doing? Besides taking a knee and embarrassing the USA at an international competition. USA is the least racist countries out there and we solve our problems. Taking a knee is not solving a problem.
Yo, Captain Ahab!!! When can we grab lunch together because you seem to be one of the only people who knows what’s going on and has the courage to speak up?
I doubt it!!!!
Shhh the grownups are talking. Go laydown Robbos.
Can I join lunch? When is the next qanon gathering?
Same time as your flag burning party, so they’ll probably miss you
Who doesn’t love a good confederate flag burning party?
Taking a knee may provoke people with open minds to think a little bit about understanding the issues of the day. If someone has a platform to protest and attempt to help others who don’t have that platform, what’s the problem? Your statement that “USA is the least racist countries (sic) out there…” is telling. Please provide your evidence for this statement. What are you afraid of?
Imagine being American and kneeling to anyone.
Edit: except your future spouse!
Very brief googling could show you exactly what Anthony Ervin is doing, but it’s a lot easier to recycle those talking points when you’re operating from a position of zero facts.
You are correct – DO NOT DOUBT IT due to the free spirit thinkers who are allowed to post the anti-American trash here and elsewhere. My father was wounded twice on the beaches of Iwo Jima and returned home a stronger American Patriot. My brother was captured, tortured and returned home from Vietnam a proud Patriot who took his life from depression and PTSD. These “children thinkers” who live an entitled life due to the sacrifices of others MIGHT grow out of their selfish radical thinking. If not no worries as there still remain a few of us who understand truth. As one well traveled WORLD WIDE, I can safely state that the USA is one of the least racist… Read more »
Racism and dehumanization of others were the forces that ignited World War II and led your father to Iwo Jima in the first place. Perhaps Anthony Ervin is learning from that history and doing what he can to try to eliminate more needless, senseless violence.
Very good point. I certainly hope Anthony Ervin and his protesting will avert WWIII.
I understand you support the Olympic movement, what it represents, and you want solution for social justice /racial issues. And I agree.
But I don’t quite understand why protest means hate, or complain or throw a temper tantrum. I see protest by itself won’t solve the issue, but acts more like a change agent – that enough people need to object to something or demand change to effect real change in a system.
I agree that hate, complain or temper tantrum should not be the action for change at an individual level for any issue. But I am sure protest in a respectful /non-violent way (like taking a knee) is not any of those either.
To All and Anthony Ervin:
The Olympics are an international competition and everyone gets to compete from countries all around the world. If a country does not have the money other people will sponsor it. Who here remembers the Jamaican Bob sled team? Who here remembers Jesse Owens? If you are going to take a knee at the Olympics or any other competition that allowed you to participate as a matter of equality, then are you protesting the very reforms that opened up your participation? The very people that saw equality in competition as a good thing? Again, does your hate undermine greater reform?
To captain Ahab,
If Racism or gender inequality or sexual discrimination or drug cheats didn’t exist, there would be no need to protest.
So you are blaming the protesters instead of those doing the crime. This is something you fail to see,
Shut up goofball. The Olympics is about sports – not your flavor of the day issue to whine about and do nothing. Leave the Olympics alone.
Wrong person to complain to GOOFBALL, I’m not an Olympian, please tell Ervin.
Chalmers>Dessel.
Nah it was the right person. And nope. 46.96 > 47.08 but i know math is tough for Australians.
Chalmers younger & gold medalist from last Olympics, when the crunch comes King Kyle comes thru, big game player. You Goofball.
If racism is a such a bad problem in America, how is it that so many black people are participating in the swimming sport? How is it that they can go to championship? How is that they can own cars/homes just like everyone else? How is it that they can even buy mansions in Palm Beach and Martha’s Vineyards? How is it they can be president of the USA and representative in the congress and senate? No one and nothing is ever perfect; However, complete condemnation is to destroy the progress that we have made and poisons future progress. You have to be a friend to have a friend sugar attracts more bees than vinegar so would you rather be… Read more »
Just because some people are successful doesn’t mean they don’t experience racism, and certainly doesn’t make the experience of those who face sub-standard housing, educational and economic opportunities any less real. This comment may be one of the best examples of racism there is.
That’s interesting because I typed the exact same thing you typed if you would read more carefully. And while it maybe more difficulty, we have an obligation to struggle harder, to be more positive, and to overcome. The question is are you going to let racism turn you into a negative or bitter person or are you going to set out to accomplish regardless of racism. I don’t think you want to hear positive I think you guys want to hear the negative and it was somebody else’s fault.
AMEN!!! AMEN!!! AMEN!!!
For every one person, who is strong enough to stand against their abusers because of the colour of their skin, their religion, their sexual preference, their gender, there are 50 who are not strong enough, so why punish the weak by sticking your head in the sand as though it does not exist.
Then they see their favourite swimmer, their favourite arts performer or whoever they may be stand or kneel for their rights, this does make them a little stronger for them to know they are not alone.
You’re right and they’re mad. None of them actually care about the issues they go on about, they just want to be seen chastising it. It’s dumb.
This is a reply to those who refuse to admit reality. Considering all of the public education programs available to the black community, considering all of the social services available to the black community, considering how apologetic and respectful people are in current efforts to resolve any inequities it goes back to what I said. Black participation will grow as black people decide to make it so. Sure, there are bad people out there but you have to decide that you will not let them prevent your success. So you do not make excuses for not recruiting enough black people into competitive swimming. Oh and by the way how wealthy is Oprah? And did Megan Markle decide to leave the… Read more »
Because Megan Markle and Oprah are the norm. OK.
Captain Ahab
You have chosen a name representative of your naivete. Oprah being rich does not negate thousands of cases like George Floyd.
Thousands of cases? Where’s the proof? And how many of those cases did the individual resist arrest or have a previous criminal record?
There are not a thousand cases like George Floyd. First of all there would not be a George Floyd case if had not done all of that dope, used a counterfeit $20, and resisted arrest.
Why do you hate the american justice system so much that you refuse to accept the jury’s decision that “all that dope” wasn’t the cause of the death?
You are showing your naivete. Since 2015, 6,211 people have been shot and killed by police. 46% were white and 24% were black. Just 6% were unarmed. Law enforcement officers have shot and killed 168 unarmed white people and 135 unarmed black people. It is not 1000s and more white people are killed by police vs black individuals yet people like LeBron claim that innocent black people are being hunted down.
Can anyone name any of the white victims? Probably not. It doesn’t fit this narrative.
Here’s one: Tony Timpa. He died in police custody in 2016 with a knee on his back for 14 minutes. But this only happens to black people in America
Yes, black… Read more »
There is nothing stopping blacks from swimming. Yes, there is a larger percentage of blacks playing basketball, football, and running track but that doesn’t mean that the swimming community is racist. Just because I don’t eat Asian cuisine doesn’t mean I’m a racist, I just don’t enjoy the food. The same goes for sports. Black kids might not enjoy swimming or skiing as much as they do other sports.
There are tons of things keeping anyone economically disadvantaged from swimming. And because black people are, on average, more economically disadvantaged (at least somewhat because of, yes, systemic racism), they are kept out of the pool more.
I’m white, and if my parents had gotten divorced when I was five instead of when I was ten, I never would have been a swimmer. Continuing my swimming lessons, and then letting me sign up for the swim team, would never have been a consideration for my single-parent family. Only because my mom wouldn’t have wanted to take something away from me (and I had a coach who knew the situation my family was in and helped out) was I able to… Read more »
Generalize much? I hope you are 12.
There’s a hard limit to the amount of reasoning you can do with a person who thinks he’s made a great point by writing “Just because I don’t eat Asian cuisine doesn’t mean I’m a racist.”
…just sharing facts…. USA Swimming reg is 1% black, 6% mixed. For swimming to continue to grow year over year, the demo needs to look more like the demo of the entire country.
Mel, I’m just glad that you’re letting us speak our mind and not censoring our speech, unlike most media these days!
Question then – should all other sports accurately represent the demo of the entire country?
dumb point my bad
Thank God we have the white savior Steve Nolan to fix all the perceived racism in America with ample amounts of snark and naivety!
Steve’s comments are always great. He brings a lot of real data mixed with humor. Steve, I appreciate you!
Where are the “so many black people”? Did I miss them?