Simone Ashley Manuel was born and raised in Texas. Both of her parents were student-athletes, as well as her two big brothers. Growing up in an athletic family, Manuel was introduced to different sports from an early age, having her first swimming lesson at 4. A quick learner with a natural talent for swimming, Manuel was advanced to her age and trainקג with older children. At 11, she joined the First Colony Swim Team in Houston and became the top-ranked swimmer in her age group in both 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle events. At 12, after already winning several competitions, Manuel felt ignored at practices and that she was treated differently because of her skin color and almost quit swimming. In 2011, at the age of 15, Manuel made her international debut in the FINA World Junior Championships, finishing fourth in the 100-meter freestyle. In the next couple of years, she competed and won in various national and international events, including the Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships and the World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Spain. There, she won the gold medal while breaking the American junior swimmer record of the 25-second barrier in the 50-meter freestyle. In 2014, Simone graduated high school and enrolled at Stanford University, studying communications. She joined the Stanford Cardinal women’s swimming team and broke the team’s record in the 50, 100, and 200-yard freestyle. In the following year, when she is 19 years old, Simone became a two-time American and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) champion, winning the 50- and 100-yard freestyle and setting a new record in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 46.09. At the age of 20, Manuel competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, winning four medals – gold in the 100-meter freestyle, gold in the 4×100-meter medley, silver in the 50-meter freestyle, and silver in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, becoming the first African-American woman to win an individual gold in Olympic swimming. In 2018, Manuel graduated college and signed with the swimsuit manufacturer TYR Sport Inc. In the following year, she made history when she swept the 50 and 100 freestyles at the world swimming championships while breaking the American record in the 100 with a time of 52.04 seconds. Read more...