Howard swimming and diving is beacon of success and representation

Howard is only HBCU in the nation with a swimming & diving program

WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — At a Tuesday afternoon practice late in their season 2022-23 season, Howard swimming & diving head coach Nic Askew paces the edges of the pool instructing his team on what drills to do next.

“There’s a myth out there that black people don’t swim,” Askew told DC News Now.

Shattering that myth, the Howard University swimming and diving team is a respected program, getting ready to compete for a conference title next week.

“We can do anything. It doesn’t matter where you’ve seen us, where we’re not supposed to be, like I guess you don’t see black people in the water very often,” Howard senior diver Teyana Johnson said. “But it doesn’t matter because you can do anything and well.”

In 2016, Howard became the only historically black college and university that has a swimming and diving team. In recent years, North Carolina A&T and Florida A&M have ended their programs.

Thrilled with the state of his program but disappointed in the nonexistence of HBCU college swimming elsewhere, Askew said today’s situation stems from black history in and before America.

“When our ancestral people were brought over from the coast of Africa. They were swimmers. They swam for their livelihood. When they came over into this new land. They also could swim,” Askew said. “Waterways were seen as a way of escape and the enslavers at the time would punish people severely for trying to escape and so it was told and passed down through the generations, don’t go near the water, that is a dangerous place, to know what we’re seeing here is a low percentage of black and brown people having swimming ability.”

A native of Kinston, North Carolina, a city east of Raleigh, Askew grew up swimming and attended Howard in the mid 1990s. When he was a Bison, Howard had 23 swimmers on its team. Now in his ninth season as head coach of the program, the roster has more than doubled to 47. According to Askew, his program is in its 100th season.

“We’re trying to be that beacon to let every other HBCU know that it can be done and you can be really successful at it,” Askew said.

Each of Askew’s swimmers and divers has a unique story that drew them to the program.

Johnson, who grew up in San Antonio, Texas, didn’t dive until she was 17. She grew up competing in gymnastics. She joined Askew’s program as a walk-on and earned a scholarship in 2020. Several years later, she’s a leader on the squad.

“Coach always tells us that we have to be in tip top shape, we have to be more prepared than other teams just because we always have eyes on us,” Johnson said. “We’re always going to stand out. People are always staring every time we walk in.”

Senior swimmer Miles Simon, who competes in just about every swimming event, has also seen the program grew during his time in the district. Simon is a native of Atlanta and was on an all-black club swim team when he was a teenager.

“The growth that this program has seen is crazy, it’s been a lot of ups and downs I’ve heard. There’s been times when they’ve had no coach or they didn’t know how to get into a swim meet or some people aren’t eligible to swim,” Simon said. “And now we’re here with 47 black and brown brothers and sisters who came from all aspects of life and who are ready to compete.”

While Askew hopes is program inspires black communities of swimmers throughout the country, he’s also focused on winning.

“We want to be the type of program that’s continually spitting out Olympic qualifiers for the U.S. as well as the countries that are represented as part of our roster,” Askew said. “We want to make sure that we are an NCAA presence at Championships.”

Askew hopes that his team will have a positive ripple effect on the future.

“We really talk about giving back, not just taking care of you and getting your success but bringing someone else along,” Askew said. “Inspiring the future generations that are following in your footsteps.”

Askew’s players are buying into that philosophy.

“[Growing up,] I didn’t see anybody that looked like me on the screen,” Johnson said. “That’s exactly what I want to do is inspire little girls that look like me, to try things that we don’t normally do. I feel honored honestly.”