Simone Manuel

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Simone Ashley Manuel (born August 2, 1996) is an American professional Swimming (sport), swimmer specializing in freestyle events. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, she won two gold and two silver medals: gold in the 100-meter freestyle and the 4x100-meter medley, and silver in the 50-meter freestyle and the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. In winning the 100-meter freestyle, a tie with Penny Oleksiak of Canada, Manuel became the first Black American woman to win an individual Olympic gold in swimming and set an Olympic record and an American record. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she won a bronze medal as the anchor of the American 4×100-meter freestyle relay team.

Manuel also holds three world records as a member of a relay team, and she is a six-time individual NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships champion, becoming one of the first three African American women to place in the top three spots in the 100-yard freestyle event in any Division I NCAA Swimming Championship. From 2014 to 2018, she attended Stanford University, where she swam for the Stanford Cardinal and helped Stanford win the NCAA team championship in women's swimming and diving in 2017 and 2018. She turned pro in July 2018.

After entering Stanford in 2014, she became a member of the Stanford Cardinal women's swimming team. She broke the school records in the 50-, 100-, and 200-yard freestyle in the same year, and in 2014, her freshman year, she also broke the American and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) records for 100-yard freestyle. Manuel is a six-time individual NCAA champion: winning the 50- and 100-yard freestyle in 2015, 2017, and 2018. She redshirted in 2016. As a senior, she won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's best female swimmer as well as the Honda Cup for the best overall female collegiate athlete.

Activism and outreach

Efforts to increase access, diversity, and inclusion in swimming

Make A Splash Foundation

Manuel has partnered with multiple organizations and projects whose goal is to extend opportunities and promote inclusion in swimming. She is an ambassador for the Make A Splash organization headed by the USA Swimming Foundation. This program partners with local communities to bring awareness to the need for aquatics education in underserved areas by issuing grants to local swim lesson providers. The program teaches the life-saving skills of swimming and pool safety to young children from under-resourced communities often free of charge.

Inclusion rider

Manuel signed a sponsorship with the popular swimwear company TYR Sport, Inc. in 2018 and entered the world of professional swimming. In signing her sponsorship with TYR Sport, Inc., Manuel instituted an inclusion rider in her contract. The addition, often seen in the entertainment industry to require groups to reach a specific level of diversity, was a first ever agreement of its kind in professional sports. In TYR Sport, Inc.'s press release regarding the signing of Manuel, the company describes that the inclusion rider "ensures that imone'spartners r TYRextend meaningful opportunities to traditionally underrepresented groups and that diversity be reflected in the creative efforts imonepursues with the brand".

Promise School

In 2019 Manuel partnered with Lebron James’ Promise School in Akron, Ohio. With this partnership, she helped form a 4-week summer swim program for students of the school. The program was hosted by the Akron YMCA that provided the swim instructors and assisted in funding the program. Out of 140 attendees, 90% had no experience in the pool. Although Manuel could not be physically present at the camp because she was training for the Olympics, she did visit the school earlier that year in March to introduce the summer program and have a meet and greet with the kids. For the duration of the camp, Manuel sent videos giving tips and encouragement to the students. In agreement with her inclusion rider, her sponsor TYR provided the children with swimsuits and other swim gear necessary for the camp.

Swimming career

2012

Manuel swam at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials, placing 20th in the 50-meter freestyle and 17th in the 100-meter freestyle events. The following month, as a 16-year-old at the 2012 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, held at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center in Honolulu, she won gold medals in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 54.80 seconds, the 4×100-meter freestyle relay where she set a Championships record of 54.60 on the first leg of the relay, the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, the 4×100-meter medley relay, placed fourth in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 25.45 seconds, and won the B-final of the 200-meter freestyle with a 2:00.32."2012 Jr Pan Pacific Swimming 8/23/2012 to 8/27/2012: Results"
'' USA Swimming''. August 27, 2012. Retrieved October 26, 2022.

2013

2013 National Championships

She competed at the 2013 US National Championships, where she finished third in the 100-meter freestyle and second in the 50-meter freestyle events.

2013 World Championships

She qualified for the 2013 World Aquatics Championships

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