Sexism, Racism, And Swimming At The London 2012 Olympics

Denying allegations of racism, John Leonard and others have argued that their suspicions are not due to Ye’s race or nationality but simply the cold hard facts of “the way she won the race.” Ye’s swim was “an anomaly” that needs to be pointed out and questioned, they assert, ignoring the fact that every world record breaking swim is, by definition, an anomaly. No woman in history has ever swum that race that fast before, it was “an outrageous performance”, Leonard asserts, “unprecedented in any way, shape or form in the history of our sport.” Well, yes sweet pea, on the one hand, that’s what a new world record is, and then on the other, it is not that outrageous. Ye only broke the world record by 1 second, and even at the age of 16 she has been swimming internationally for some time already. Leonard claims that Ye’s improvement of 5 seconds over 400 meters makes her swim suspicious, yet young swimmers often take chunks of time off their personal bests–as a teenager Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe also took 5 seconds off his personal best over 400 meters at the 1999 Pan Pacific championships, and just last night 15 year-old US swimmer Katie Ledecky took almost 10 seconds off her personal best to win the 800 meters freestyle. Yet Leonard is not raising any suspicions there.

But were any of Ledecky’s laps faster than a man’s? Well, it is more difficult to work out because the distance pool swim for the men is 1500 meters rather than 800 meters, so there’s no direct comparison to draw from. It would be well within the mathematical capabilities of the “sports scientists,” coaches, journalists and other commentators to work out her comparative lap speeds, but we won’t know because they won’t bother because Ledecky is not Chinese. She’s white American, and they are supposed to take chunks off their personal bests, break records, and win gold medals. For them, it’s just natural.

And while such sexism and racism is relatively predictable from the tabloid press and bitter US coaches, the more liberal media and all kinds of “sports scientists“ came out publicly raising their well-educated eyebrows over Ye’s performance and analysing her race down to her last stroke. I can guarantee you that Ledecky’s swim will not come under anywhere near the level of scrutiny as Ye’s. Of course, I have no idea whether either of them are on drugs. Both their tests have come up negative but it’s possible that they might still be found positive in years to come as technologies catch up with each other. But I’m no more suspicious of Ye than I am of Ledecky, or of any Olympic athlete for that matter. And whatever happens from here, the level of quasi-scientific objectification of Ye’s body and performance that has already taken place (overwhelmingly by white men), is overtly reminiscent of an Orientalism that has formed the basis for shameful histories of sexual violence and racism.

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