Howard University’s highly regarded Bison Swimming and Diving Team was recently featured in the latest episode of We Are Here, a compelling six-part PBS and WHUT TV docuseries that highlights Black excellence in underrepresented sports and activities. The episode focused on Howard’s head swimming coach, Nicholas Askew, and his unwavering commitment to fostering community and promoting swimming across racial lines.
Under Askew’s leadership, the team has been at the forefront of efforts to make swimming more inclusive, with programs like swim camps designed to educate both athletes and their families. Askew emphasizes the life-saving importance of swimming and the power of representation in encouraging more people to learn this essential skill, Swim Swam noted.
The need for increased diversity in swimming is especially critical in light of a 2017 study by the USA Swimming Foundation, which foundthat 70% of African Americans cannot swim. This statistic is tied to America’s history of segregation, which kept …