Alia Atkinson Becomes First Black Woman to Win a World Swimming Title

Yesterday, Jamaican swimmer Alia Atkinson became the first black woman to win a world swimming title when she totally crushed the 100m breast stroke at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in Doha, Qatar.

Atkinson completed the short course race in 1 minute and 2.36 seconds, tying the world record, which according to FINA standards counts as its own record. Via Telegraph:

She told AFP: “I couldn’t believe it! It came down to the same thing as the 50 and on the 50 I got out-touched so in my mind I went straight back to that.

“I just thought ‘oh okay’ and looked up at the board and it didn’t really click yet and then it really started to click. It took a while!”

“Hopefully my face will come out, there will be more popularity especially in Jamaica and the Caribbean and we’ll see more of a rise and hopefully in the future we will see a push,” Atkinson mused.

Her reaction in the video of the race is so priceless. Congratulations Alia Atkinson!