Color of His Skin Means Nothing?: American Swimming Fans Rage After Cynical Comments Towards Anthony Nesty Over Olympics Headcoach Appointment Go Viral

As the 2023 season comes to an end for most sports, the teams are gearing up for the upcoming Olympics. The athletes are sweating it out already to stand atop the podium at the biggest sporting event of them all. The teams and the boards are leaving no stone unturned to enter the Paris multi-sport event with all the guns blazing.

Along similar lines, the USA Swimming team announced former Olympic gold medalist Anthony Nesty to be their new head coach ahead of the French competitions so as to boost preparations. The official announcement of his appointment was recently made, but controversy quickly arose as fans expressed dissatisfaction with the way it was announced.

USA Swimming gets a new coach

55-year-old Nesty is known for his work with legendary American swimmers like Katie Ledecky, Caeleb Dressel, Bobby Finke, etc. He is also the coach of the University of Florida, and he will bring a vast amount of coaching experience onboard. The USA Swimming also appointed Todd DeSorbo to coach the women’s team. The news of Nesty’s appointment was reported by ABC News on their Facebook page on Friday. They wrote, “Anthony Nesty makes more history as he is picked to lead the U.S. men’s swimming team in Paris, where he will become the first black head coach for the powerhouse American squad at the Olympics.”

Both of these newly appointed coaches served as assistant coaches at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as well as the team. But Nesty’s appointment also brought some controversy, as fans were not happy with how he was called “the?first black head coach for the American team.”

The swimming community is rallying behind the former two-time Olympic medalist and congratulating the Suriname-based legend. They have filled the comment section of the post with their heartfelt messages, and some of them even expressed their rage over the aforementioned headline.

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Fans display their affection for the new national head coach

In 1988, Nesty made worldwide headlines when he became the 100-meter butterfly champion during the Seoul Olympics. This new role adds a new feather to his crown as he will have the responsibility of team United States in the same event that made him such a popular figure, and fans are backing him with the new role, as evident from the comment section of ABC’s Facebook post.

One fan congratulated Nesty and wrote, “Bravo, congratulations we believe in you and expecting a positive results congrat again” Another fan expressed his disappointment and anger that his skin tone was not relevant to his new role and stated, “Congratulations to him for becoming a head swimming coach for the Olympics. The color of his skin means NOTHING.”?

Adding on to the previous comment’s sentiments another fan said “Isn’t it time that we quit mentioning race? A coach/leader, etc I feel should be chosen for how & what they bring to the sport.” One other fan took it to the comment section and stated, “He?s had an excellent record with the UF Swimming and Dive Team! Congrats Coach and Go Gators! “

Another fan wished him well with the Olympics and anticipated that his leadership would bring more gold medals for the team and wrote, “I Hope there would be several Gold medals for USA in this mega event under his leadership.”

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