Thursday, February 4, 2021
Black History Month Trailblazers: Sabir Muhammad
As far back as when he was a youngster accompanying his mother to a local swimming pool where she worked as a locker room attendant, Sabir Muhammad has been working toward an unselfish goal.
Making swimming accessible to everyone no matter their race.
It’s a mission he adopted from a host of coaches and mentors while growing up in inner-city Atlanta – and it’s something that he believes strongly in and works tirelessly to administer as someone who is a beacon for reaching underserved communities.
Muhammad became the first Black swimmer to set an American record (100 butterfly in 1997) and would later go on to represent the United States in international competition in both the butterfly and freestyle events.
He finished his collegiate career with seven Pac-10 championship titles, 25 All-American honors and 3 NCAA, U.S. Open and American records. He graduated from Stanford as an Academic All-American with a degree in International Relations, and went on to earn his MBA from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University.
During his career, Muhammad set 10 American records, is a two-time Short Course World Championship medalist, a four-time US Open champion, a five-time World Cup Swimming champion and a two-time runner-up at U.S. Nationals.
His silver and bronze medals at 2000 Short Course Worlds made him the first African American to win a medal at a major international swimming competition.
Muhammad has been an advocate for swimming in multicultural communities for nearly 15 years. In 2003, he helped found a learn-to-swim program with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta that eventually became a pilot for USA Swimming's Make a Splash Program.
Making swimming accessible to everyone no matter their race.
It’s a mission he adopted from a host of coaches and mentors while growing up in inner-city Atlanta – and it’s something that he believes strongly in and works tirelessly to administer as someone who is a beacon for reaching underserved communities.
Muhammad became the first Black swimmer to set an American record (100 butterfly in 1997) and would later go on to represent the United States in international competition in both the butterfly and freestyle events.
He finished his collegiate career with seven Pac-10 championship titles, 25 All-American honors and 3 NCAA, U.S. Open and American records. He graduated from Stanford as an Academic All-American with a degree in International Relations, and went on to earn his MBA from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University.
During his career, Muhammad set 10 American records, is a two-time Short Course World Championship medalist, a four-time US Open champion, a five-time World Cup Swimming champion and a two-time runner-up at U.S. Nationals.
His silver and bronze medals at 2000 Short Course Worlds made him the first African American to win a medal at a major international swimming competition.
Muhammad has been an advocate for swimming in multicultural communities for nearly 15 years. In 2003, he helped found a learn-to-swim program with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta that eventually became a pilot for USA Swimming's Make a Splash Program.