TEAMGOLDUSA

TEAMGOLDUSA Oral History Project

Simone Manuel

The first Black woman to win an individual Olympic swimming gold medal.

People of Color / Olympic Champion & Representation

Olympian: 2016, 2020, 2024

Simone Manuel’s 2016 Olympic 100m freestyle victory changed the visual history of elite swimming. Her career also includes sustained public discussion of representation, athlete health, pressure and belonging.

TEAMGOLDUSA connection: Stanford connection: Manuel’s collegiate career places a major chapter of her story in Northern California.

Career & impact

Milestones worth understanding.

  • Three-time Olympian through Paris 2024.
  • Seven-time Olympic medalist.
  • Won the 100m freestyle at Rio 2016, becoming the first Black woman to win an individual Olympic swimming gold medal.
  • Competed collegiately at Stanford University.
  • Has spoken publicly about representation and the importance of young swimmers seeing possibility in the sport.

Why interview this person?

The question behind the medals.

Manuel can speak not only about breaking a visible barrier, but also about the pressure attached to being “the first,” the emotional burden of representation, the role of college swimming, and how the sport can create belonging without tokenizing athletes.

Interview preparation

Questions TEAMGOLDUSA would like to ask.

These are starting points—not a script. The purpose is to hear lived experience, including details that institutional histories often leave out.

1

When did you first understand how few Black swimmers were visible at the highest level?

2

How did winning in Rio change the way strangers related to you?

3

What is the difference between representation that empowers and representation that creates pressure?

4

What parts of Stanford and the college pathway were most important to your development?

5

How can coaches make an athlete feel fully seen without making identity the center of every interaction?

6

What did returning for Tokyo and Paris teach you about athlete health and longevity?

7

What would you want parents of a young Black swimmer to know about staying in the sport?

8

What change would make elite swimming feel less culturally narrow ten years from now?

When an interview is completed

This profile is designed to become a permanent oral-history record.

Interview date & context

We will identify when, where, and how the conversation occurred.

Edited excerpts + full context

Short excerpts will link to a fuller transcript or recording when permission allows.

Corrections are welcome

Historical details will remain source-linked, and factual corrections will be logged rather than silently rewritten.

Published sources

Read the public record before hearing the oral history.

Team USA Athlete ProfileExternal background source →Team USA — History-Making Black AthletesExternal background source →
TEAMGOLDUSA profile URL: /dei/swimming/trailblazers/simone-manuel/. A linked source does not imply that the athlete has endorsed TEAMGOLDUSA or agreed to an interview.