D I V E R S I T Y A N D T H E O LY M P I C S
FROM NEAR-DROWNING TO OLYMPIC GOLD:
Cullen Jones
“Dares to be Different” W By Grace Austin
hen Cullen Jones began swimming, he didn’t know he would become an African-American “first,” a trailblazer in his field. Cullen Jones didn’t know he would be an Olympian either. Cullen Jones, Olympic gold medalist, began swimming out of necessity. As Jones relates, “I was actually introduced to swimming because I almost drowned. It was a normal weekend, and my parents decided to take me to a water park. I was very excited. Towards the end of the day, my dad wanted to get on the largest water ride there, and I wanted to follow suit. It was an inner tube ride, so the point was to hit the pool at the bottom and gently coast over to the shallow end. I was too light, and I flipped upside down. I ended up going under [the water] for a full thirty seconds.” A lifeguard performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the then-five-year-old Jones.
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PROFILES IN DIVERSITY JOURNAL
July/August 2012
The near-fatal waterpark accident proved to be a defining moment for the future Olympian. Placed into lessons at the local Irvington, New Jersey YMCA, Jones began swimming regularly. At the age of eight, Jones saw his first meet, and was instantly hooked by the competition. He began swimming with clubs in the New Jersey area, often on all-white teams. By the time he was 11, Jones knew he had a passion for swimming. “There was one kid who kept on beating me, and I told my mom, ‘This is my passion. I got to beat this kid.’ I knew at that point that this is what I wanted to do,” said Jones. As opposed to other Olympians and elite athletes, whose talents are often spotted early in their youth, Jones’ was not. According to the swimmer, he was a “late bloomer.” “It took me a while. I had to work really hard to be successful at swimming. The first time I thought I was good