Anticipating the joy members of the African Diaspora family are poised to experience when they reunite, Black Kids Swim—a Maryland-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting competitive Black swimmers—is preparing 2 celebrated African American swimmers to join their Senegalese cousins for a historic event. The occasion will be the 33rd annual Dakar to Goree Island swim when hundreds of Senegalese swimmers retrace a portion of the ocean route traveled by their stolen and enslaved ancestors. The 3.5 mile open water event is a tribute to those taken across the Atlantic ocean and those who defiantly attempted to escape by swimming in chains, for freedom.
Former captains of Howard University’s swim team, Skylar Smith and Noah Nicholas are training hard—mentally, physically and culturally—to complete the swim strong. Their participation will not only help dispel stereotypical assertions that Black people don’t excel at swimming, it is intended to fuel cooperative partnerships beyond the waterways. Click here to read more about the commendable efforts of Black Kids Swim to forge functional unity between and among people of African descent.