Crossing The Lane Lines

In his more than 40 years of coaching, he built an elite age group swim program in North Philadelphia from the ground up, produced two junior national finalists, helped countless athletes get swim scholarships to prestigious colleges and universities. He was the first man of African descent to coach swimming in the NCAA: First at Temple University, then later at LaSallae. He was not only a swim coach, but a father figure, mentor, and friend to many young men and women that swam for him, and his name is Malachi Cunningham. Today on a special episode of Crossing the Lane Lines we'll speak to him about his career, his triumphs, challenges, and the advice he'd give to young coaches.

Most people have done cannonballs, somersaults, and jumped off of springboards into a pool, lake or bay, but not many I’ll wager have ever attempted to jump off a 100ft cliff, executing a perfect dive. Today we’ll speak to former professional high diver, Chip Humphrey, about his extraordinary career.

Many individuals in the swimming world condemned Olympian Klete Keller’s active participation in the insurrection at our Nation’s capital on January 6th. However, USA Swimming’s tepid response to a former member’s actions, that many considered seditious, were met with disillusionment and anger within the Black swim community.  After last summer’s protests concerning the lynching of George Floyd, and a country divided, one wonders if USA Swimming is really serious about addressing issues in house. We’ll speak to historian, former D1 swimmer, and elite level swim coach, Dr. Johanna Mellis about Keller, the media, mental health, and whether or not USA Swimming has a racism problem.

If you mention names like: Doc Counsilman, and Mark Spitz, your probably going to have a number of people in the swim community that have heard of them. Powerhouse swim programs like Indiana University, and The University of Texas would be familiar to many who follow swimming as well, but what about names like Clarance Pendelton, or Malachi Cunningham, and swim programs from Historically Black Colleges like, Howard University, or Morgan State, would these names be on anyone's radar? We'll speak to researcher, swim coach and former competitive swimmer, Kevin Colquitt about the forgotten names of elite Black swimming in the Collegiate ranks from as far back as the 1940s, and his determination to educate the public about these amazing swimmers and institutions.

Over the last 116 years, only two Black men have made the Olympic roster in water polo, or 1.27%. On the women's side it's not much better. In the last 16 years, only one Black woman has made the Olympic roster, which comes to about 2.4%. Today we'll be joined by two guests, former men's national team member, and 2007 Pan American gold medal winner, Genai Kerr, and current women's national team member, and current Olympic gold medalist, Ashleigh Johnson, about how they are determined and succeeding in changing the look of men's and women's water polo.

Last summer USA Swimming was called out for not only it's slow response to speak on the lynching of George Floyd, but also it's failure to acknowledge that Black Lives Matter. This all came about mainly as a result of a social media post that went viral, calling out the need for USA Swimming to listen to members of the Black swim community, and take their lead from them. Today, we'll speak to Noelle Singleton, a former competitive swimmer, elite level swim coach, and the author of the post that is challenging USA Swimming in particular, and the swim community as a whole.

Over its history the sport of competitive swimming has not been a bastion of inclusiveness for Black folk, and if we're talking about synchronized swimming it's even less so, but one woman is making a tremendous difference in how the sport is seen and who is being seen in it. Today we'll speak to Ashley Johnson, an elite level synchronize swim coach about how she is making the sport more inclusive not only for young Black women, but also welcoming for other marginalized groups.

The Jim Crow era is considered one our nation's darkest times. The "so called" separate, but equal, may have been seen as egalitarian by White folk, but Black people knew, and lived the real story. Jobs, housing, education and yes, swimming were far inferior in Black neighborhoods, but through it all, Black people found a way to rise up. Today, we'll hear from someone who grew up in segregated Tallahassee, FL, went on to an Ivy league school, joined their swim team, and made folks take notice.

On January 6th, 2021, a 6 foot 6 inch former US Olympic multi-medal winning swimmer, Klete Keller, took part in the violent insurrection on our Nation's Capital. Like many in the crowd, he was allowed to leave the building following the devastation that claimed the lives of five people. Many athletes of color, and people of color in general, clearly saw the double standard with how a White mob is treated as it storms Congress, and how Black and Brown protestors are received during Black Lives protests. Further, one has to wonder what sort of reception Black and Brown athletes would receive from both the police and media if the tables were turned? We'll speak to award-winning sports journalist Dave Zirin, about the deep rooted relationship between sports and politics, and the rise of the activist athlete.

The challenges of elite Black swimmers has been well-documented on this show, but what about the challenges that face their parents. We'll speak to activist and mother of an elite age-group swimmer, Melanie Hinson, about the hardships of; equipment, travel, lodging, registration fees, and whether or not their child feels safe on a pool deck surrounded by children that don't look like them.