Today is Simone Manuel’s 25th birthday. This is an appropriately Olympic-timed OT, even though she’ll have swum her races by the time it posts. She is the current 1 American Record holder for both the 50m and 100m free, and the reigning 50m gold medalist. Unfortunately, she only competed for the 100m free (and the 4x100m free relay) because she finished 9th at the American trials, disqualifying her for finals and the chance to earn her spot. She attributed her poor performance to overtraining syndrome. 2
Personally, I’m sad to only see her swim twice this year, as I love watching our sprinters, and to make up for that I have created a Day Thread for her. Also, I’m still bitter that she, a Stanford swimmer, was given this headline by the San Jose Mercury News (her LOCAL newspaper): “Michael Phelps shares historic night with African-American.” 3
I want everyone to know her name.
Also, I’m back on campus for the next school year and I am not excited about it!
Photo credits: 1 4 25
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