By Brianna Theophile @itsbriannat
Howard University’s Swim and Dive Team has officially become the first all-Black swim team to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated and remains the only swim team at a historically Black institution since 2016.
There is a lack of representation for Black college athletes, as they account for only 1.5% of the country’s competitive swimmers, according to Sports Illustrated. Roughly one-third of the country’s Black college swimmers reside at Howard alone.
The team’s coach, Nic Askew, reportedly recruited swimmers from all over the world to create the compelling team.
He tells Sports Illustrated, “I stand before you as a Black man in America, in a sport that doesn’t look like me. This drives home the reason I am at Howard, and I have been called to this sport… to lead the only HBCU swimming and diving program because that shouldn’t be the
case.
This world and this nation are full of opportunities, and opportunities should be for everyone”. This month, the team now has the chance after 30 years, to bring home the Northeast Conference swimming championship title.