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Do you know who Simone Manuel is? She is a famous swimmer. Do you know why she is important to history? You’re about to find out.

Simone Ashley Manuel was born in Sugar Land, Texas on August 2, 1996. Her parents are both former student athletes. They are Marc and Sharron Manuel. Simone Manuel’s older brother’s are Chris and Ryan Manuel. They both went on to play college basketball.

Simone started swimming at the age of four, when her mom agreed to let her take lessons. She swam across a 15 meter pool by the second day, she was a natural. Simone Manuel also played other sports. When she was ten, she considered quitting swim for dance. Sharron convinced her to do both.

By the time Simone was 11, she was on a swim team in Houston. Simone Manuel was one of the top-ranked swimmers in her age group for the 100 meter and 50 meter freestyle events, with Allison Beebe’s, Simone Manuel’s coach, guidance.

2011 was when Simone got known from the FINA World Junior Championship where she got a fourth place finish at the 100 meter freestyle. The next year she dove into the Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships and won the 100 meter freestyle event.

In 2014 Simone graduated from Fort Bend Austin High School. Then she set school records at Stanford University. Finally, in Simone Manuel’s freshman year she won the 50 yard and 100 yard freestyle, setting an American record.

Simone Manuel is famous because she set multiple records throughout her life. She is also famous because she was the first African-American swimmer to win an individual gold medal in the Olympics. Another reason Simone Manuel is famous is that she won the women’s 4x100 free relay race winning a silver medal, and setting an American record on August 6, 2016. Lastly, she later won a silver medal in the 100 meter freestyle.

Simone Manuel made contributions. One is not quitting or giving up. Another is making history at the 2016 Olympics. But the most important one is showing that people could choose what they want to do.

Simone Manuel is famous for what she did, also famous for why she did it. Simone even said, “ The gold medal wasn’t just for me. It was for the people who came before me and inspired me to stay in this sport, and for the people who believe that they can’t do it. I hope that I’m an inspiration to others to get out there and try swimming. They might be pretty good at it.’’

In conclusion, Simone Ashley Manuel is a very interesting person to write about and get to know. In my opinion Simone Manuel is a very important person to history. Now, do you know who Simone Manuel is, and why she is important to history.