Feb 27, 2008 8:38 am US/Eastern
"Black Splash" Honors African-American Swimmers
FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ―
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Virginia Key Beach, once a "Black" only beach in South Florida
CBS
Through the Jim Crow-era, African-Americans were excluded from America's institutions, beaches and pools. Few African-Americans participated in aquatic sports, but a documentary called "Black Splash" being shown at The International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, presents some of the truths of who were legendary swimmers in American history.
"Black Spash" chronicles as far back as the first Portuguese explorers, describing coastal Africans "as culturally aquatic peoples and excellent swimmers".
The documentary explores the myth about African-Americans and athletic competition in swimming.
Sabir Muhammad has a sense of pride and accomplishment in and out the water. "It's an honor. I worked my entire career to set a standard for other kids out there in the country."
Sabir, who broke 10 U.S. swimming records, is one of several award-winning African-American swimmers honored in "Black Splash".
The museum's director Bruce Wigor explained how it shows the achievements and history of Black swimmers.
"What this history shows is that African-Americans have an incredibly rich history in swimming: the greatest swimmers in the world from the 1500s to the 1800s, and this is a legacy that has been robbed and destroyed."
The exhibit also shows how "segregation" at public pools and beaches turned Blacks away from swimming and fostered the stereotype that blacks were unable to swim.
For Anna Lea Roof, the exhibit was an eye opener.
"There are a lot of things in it that I never knew. It's kind of interesting, for many, many years, Blacks were the best swimmers," she observed.
Among award-winning swimmers: Fred Evans, Maritza Correia, Anthony Nesty, Cullen Jones, Sabir Muhammad, and many others, are carrying on the legacy, one stroke at a time.
All the gold medals are symbols of what other people said could not be done.
Among notable African-American swimmers featured in the film: Yarrow Mamout, the "greatest swimmer to ever swim in the Patomac River"; Crispus Attucks, the former sailor and swimmer who was first American to die in the Revolutionary War; York, the only African-American on the Lewis and Clark Expedition; Paul Cuffee, America's first great African American Entrepreneur; Tice Davids, the escaped slave whose swimming exploit gave the Underground Railroad its name; the amazing swimming ability of boxing legend Peter Jackson; Eugene Williams, the African American youth whose drowning ignited the deadly Chicago race riots of 1919; civil rights leader, Ambassador Andrew Young, a member of the Howard University swim team; Nate Clark, the first African-American to score in an NCAA swimming championship, and; Anthony Nesty, the University of Florida All-American, the first swimmer of African descent to win an Olympic Gold medal and to be inducted into ISHOF as an honor swimmer.
The "Black Splash" exhibit will remain on display in the museum from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
For more information, call (954) 462-6536.
The International Hall of Fame, established in 1965, is a not-for-profit educational organization.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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