Simone Manuel Biography, Life, Interesting Facts

Childhood and Early Life

American swimmer Simone Manuel was born on the 2 August 1996 in Sugar Land, Texas into a family of three children. Her parents, Sharron and Marc, were both student-athletes. She has two older brothers, Ryan, and Chris who both played college basketball. As her family was sports oriented, Manuel started swimming lessons at a young age.

Education

Simone Manuel graduated from Fort Bend Austin High School (2014) and then enrolled at Stanford University.

Rise to Fame

As a pre-teen, Simone Manuel was in First Colony Swim Team where Alison Beebe coached her. At Stanford University, she became a member of the women’s swimming team, Stanford Cardinal where she broke records in freestyle.

Career

At the US National Championships in 2012, Simone Manuel finished second in the 50 freestyle and third in the 100m freestyle and qualified for the 2013 World Aquatics Championships which were held in Barcelona, Spain. In Barcelona, she won gold in the preliminary 4x100m freestyle relay. At Duel in the Pool (2013), she won the 100 m freestyle and came second in the 400m freestyle relay, first in the 200m mixed medley relay and third in the 50m freestyle. 

In 2014, Simone Manuel broke the American and National Collegiate Athletic Association records for freestyle. She went on to become a six-time individual National Collegiate Athletic Association champion. In 2015 at the National Collegiate Athletic Association championships, Manuel won the 100m and 50m freestyle and set a 100m freestyle record with a time of 46.09. She came second in the 200m freestyle event. Then the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in  Rio de Janeiro, Manuel won gold in the 100m freestyle as well as in the 4x100m medley. She also won two silver medals; coming second in the 50m freestyle as well as the 4x100m freestyle relay.

At the 2017 US team trials, Simone Manuel won the 50m freestyle (24.27), came second in the 100m freestyle (53.05) and qualified for the 4x200m Free Relay, finishing 5th.at the United States Nationals in 2017. 

Recent Victories

At the 2017 FINA World Championships, Manuel won gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay.  She also won gold in the 4x100m mixed medley relay. In a surprise win, Manuel beat Sweden’s Sjostrom in the 100m free by her 52.27 to Sjostrom's 52.31. In the 50m freestyle final, Manuel became the first American women to break the 24-second barrier (23.97), winning a bronze medal. The winner of the 50m freestyle was Sjostrom, with Ranomi Kromowidjojo of The Netherlands winning the silver medal.

As the 2017-2018 college season drew to a close, Simone Manuel announced that she was turning pro, although one year of NCAA eligibility at Stanford is still an option.

Legacy

At the 2016 Rio Olympics  Simone Manuel became the first American American woman to win gold. Her win was also first won by the U.S. in the women’s 100m freestyle since 1984. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Simone Manuel and Lia Neal made history as it was the first time two African American female swimmers completed simultaneously in the U.S. Olympic swim team