Always a Great Day to Be an Athlete

Photo Courtesy: Jeremy Crawford

Commentary by Jamie Kolar, Swimming World College Intern.

February is home to National Girls and Women in Sports Day. This is a day set apart to celebrate being a lady who is involved in any type of athletics, which typically leads to girls everywhere taking to social media to post pictures about how proud they are of being a female athlete. While this populates a generous news feed on Instagram for a day, we might be overlooking the main point. Taking pride in what you do is not something that should be limited to a singular day, rather should be an every day occurrence.

This is not to say that being a female athlete is insignificant: There was a time in history when women were not allowed to participate in sporting activities. There have been several women who have paved the way for the women of the present to be able to compete at such a high level. Without them, none of this would be possible.

Thankfully the times have changed. Now in 2019, there are 159,428 girls who are registered to USA Swimming and compete in the sport. Being a female athlete is something to be proud of; however, we should be proud of it every day of the year. We certainly do not need a specific day to point out how amazing it is to be a female athlete.

When you think about strong female athletes, who comes to mind? The following three women often come to mind not only in the swimming world but also the broader sporting world. They certainly do not need a specific day to be proud of who they are as athletes and as people in general. They exemplify what it means to be proud of who you are and what you do.

Serena Williams

Photo Courtesy: Edwin Martinez

Serena Williams is one of the most dominant athletes of all time. She has won 23 Grand Slam titles and is widely regarded as one of the best tennis players of all time, male or female.

Last year, Williams sparked some controversy by arguing with an umpire about three supposed code violations. The final of the three violations cost Williams the match. She referred to the umpire as a “thief” for calling this final code violation and costing her the match. This was not an offensive word by any means, yet she was put under much criticism for speaking to an umpire in such a manner. Men have spoken to umpires with much more colorful language and have not had as harsh of repercussions for such actions or as much backlash in the media as well.

Williams did not need a specific day to remind her to be a strong athlete and speak up about what she felt was unfair and unjustified. She exemplifies what it means to be a strong female athlete and proud to be just that and so much more.

Fu Yuanhui

Photo Courtesy: Joao Marc Bosch

Fu Yuanhui was one of the many highlights from the 2016 Olympic Games: not because of her swims, but because of her outspoken post-race interview. The most notable of these interviews was after the 400 free relay. She was explaining why her team came in fourth and gave a very honest answer: “I don’t think I performed very well today. I feel I let my teammates down.” This is a respectable answer, and then the broadcasters proceeded to ask her why her posture was curled over. She responded with: “It’s because my period came yesterday, so I felt particularly tired – but this isn’t an excuse. I still didn’t swim well enough.” This answer sparked some waves over the internet.

Menstruation is part of the female biology and is something all women have to deal with during training and competing. Yunanhui wasn’t blaming her performance on her cycle; she was just acknowledging that it was something that she was dealing with. She certainly did not need a specific day to remind her that she was a female athlete. She got up on the blocks and did her best and owned her performance – for better or worse.

Lilly King

Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

Lilly King is known for being outspoken in general and exemplified this trait in Rio in 2016 when she famously wagged her finger at Russian Yulia Efimova.

This action was interpreted by many as aggressive and unsportsmanlike conduct; however, similar to Williams, King was expressing her opinion. She did nothing that male athletes have not done in the past, and yet the reaction to her was much stronger. King hung on and came out victorious: She did not need a specific day to remind her to challenge her competitors. She got up and held her head tall until her hands hit the wall.

The Takeaway

Each of these women are exceptional athletes as well as exceptional people, not just women. They stand out in the crowd and are unapologetically themselves. They carry themselves the same way every day of the year and are proud of it. Athletes, both male and female, should be proud of who they are. Their pride should not be limited to one day. Each and every day is a great day to be an athlete or any kind and of any gender.

National Girls and Women in Sports Day Site

All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.

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