Black History Month Swim Quiz Stumps All Comers

How Much Do You Know About Black Swimmers? Test Your Knowledge. — February 20, 2002

PHOENIX, Feb. 24. ON Feb. 20, swiminfo posted a quiz in honor of Black History Month: "How Much Do You Know About Black Swimmers? Test Your Knowledge."

The quiz, largely created by the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHoF), attracted about 100 contestants. Several contestants got nine of the 10 questions right. As it turned out, those nine were the nine that were posted on the ISHoF web site.

Here are the 10 questions, along with the answers:

1. Who was the first black swimmer to score in an NCAA final?
Answer: Nate Clark, Ohio State, in the 200 yard butterfly.

2. Who was the first black collegiate scholarship swimmer to become a U.S. ambassador?
Answer: Andrew Young, Howard University, 1952-56. Dr. Young was U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in 1976. He was also mayor of Atlanta. He remains active in the Georgia swimming community.

3. Who was the first African-American scientist to conduct research on the potential for black swimming success?
Answer: Dr. Wilburn E. Campbell, Albany State University, 1974.

4. Who was the first black swimmer to make a U.S. national team?
Answer: Chris Silva, UCLA (yes, boys and girls, UCLA used to have a men's team), World University Games in Edmonton, Canada, 1982. Shortly thereafter, Chris died tragically in an auto accident.

5. Who was the first black swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal?
Answer: everyone knew this one: Anthony Nesty, Suriname, won the 100 fly at the 1988 Seoul olympics, clocking 53.00 — .01 ahead of the USA's Matt Biondi.

6. Who would have been the first black swimmer to win Olympic gold, had she not been cheated by the East Germans?
Answer: Very few contestants got this one right. The cheated swimmer was Holland's Enith Brigitha. At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Brigitha placed third in the 100 free (56.65) behind East Germany's Kornelia Ender (55.65 WR) and Petra Priemer (56.49). Both East Germans were doped. (She alo placed third in the 200 free behind Ender and the USA's Shirley Babashoff.)

7. Who was the first female black swimmer to final at the NCAAs?
Answer: Sybil Smith, Boston University, 1988, 100 yard backstroke.

8. Who was the first black swimmer to set an American record?
Answer: Another easy one. It was Sabir Muhammad, Stanford University, 1997, 100 meter butterfly (short course meters).

9. Who was the first black female to make a U.S. national team?
Answer: Allison Terry, 1999, Pan American Games.

10. Who was the first swimmer of African descent to make the U.S. Olympic team and win an Olympic gold medal?
Answer: Another easy one. Anthony Ervin, University of California and Phoenix Swim Club, 2000, won gold in the 50 free and silver in the 400 free relay at the Sydney Games.

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