Simone Manuel

The title 'black swimmer' makes it seem like I am not supposed to be able to win a gold medal, I am not supposed to be able to break the Olympic record, and that is not true, as I work as hard as anybody else, and I love the sport, and I want to win, just like everybody else.

I swim for myself. I love it, I have fun, and just representing my country is the greatest honor I could ever have.

For people who believe that they can't do it, I hope I'm an inspiration to others to get out there and try swimming. You might be pretty good at it.

Swimming is a life-saving skill, so just the fact that the sport that I love can give so much back to other people - and inspire them to join something that they never thought they could do or go after their dreams - is something that is really special to me.