Nesty's recognition
First black to win Olympic swimming gold honored
Posted: Thursday March 04, 1999 07:24 PM
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Nesty is now an assistant swimming coach at the University of South Florida. Bob Martin/Allsport |
PARAMARIBO, Suriname (AP) -- Caribbean leaders honored Suriname's Anthony Nesty on Thursday as the first and only black man to win a gold medal for swimming in the Olympics.
Nesty, now 31, won the 100-meter butterfly in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
He received a standing ovation when he was called to the stage Thursday at a summit of the 15-nation Caribbean Community. The government of Suriname presented him with atrophy.
Nesty, now an assistant swimming coach at the University of South Florida, won the 1991 World Championships in Perth, Australia, and followed up with a bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, again in the 100-meter butterfly.
On Thursday, he called on regional governments to recognize that the sport could bring them international glory if they invested in more infrastructure.
"It is a fairly expensive sport and governments will have to help," he told the AP after the ceremony. "I have seen a few prospects in the Caribbean and with help they could make it."
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