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Mon, 08.14.2000

The First Black Male Swimmer Qualifies for the Olympics

Anthony Ervin

*On this date in 2000, the first Black man made the U.S. Olympic Swimming team.

Anthony Ervin of Valencia, Calif., qualified in the men's 50-meter freestyle. The meet occurred at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in Indianapolis, Indiana.  The first Black woman to qualify was Enith Brigtha.

Ervin, (then) 19 years old, also swam on the 400-meter freestyle relay team at the Sydney Games.

New Poem Each Day

Poetry Corner

Black is what the prisons are, The stagnant vortex of the hours Swept into totality, Creeping in the perjured heart, Bitter in the vulgar rhyme, Bitter on the walls; Black is where the devils... THE AFRICAN AFFAIR by Bruce M. Wright.
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