โThis isnโt a bunch of Black people in a pool,โ remarks Nic Askew, the coach of the all-Black swim team at Howard University. โItโs young Black men and women succeeding in a sport that, for years, has shut them out of this experience.โ For Sports Illustrated, Robert Sanchez spends time with Askew, a 44-year-old Howard alum and record-setting swimmer who agreed to take over the universityโs swimming program. An inspiring coach, Askew has slowly but steadily breathed life into the program, creating, reports Sanchez, โarguably the most electric collegiate swimming environment in the U.S.โ
Today, Black Americans are 5.5 times more likely to drown than white ones, and historically, racism has made pools across the U.S. โ and swimming as both a sport and leisurely activity โ less accessible to Black communities. While other HBCUs have cut programs over the decades, Howardโs swim program still stands, and stands proudly.
Askew is a font of positivity, a never-ending seeker of the good thatโs just around the corner. Itโs an attitude that dates to his time two decades ago as a record-setting swimmer and all-conference tennis player at Howard. โHe always wants to know whatโs next,โ says King, Askewโs former teammate, who once starred as a distance freestyler. โAnd heโs bringing you with him.โ Askew often talks about overflowing cups, about using his cup to fill othersโ, about the big idea he has for the Bison pool, about the teamโs schedule, about winning, about the idea that Americaโs only all-Black college swim team could become a touchstone for underserved communities across the country.
When flyers began appearing around the University of Colorado Boulder, announcing that an enrolled student with ties to the white nationalist group Patriot Front, the campusโs independent student newspaper took notice. It secured an interview with the student, Patryck Durham, who admitted to being affiliated with Patriot Front and to publishing social media posts encouraging the killing of immigrants and Black people, but said UC officials were aware of all this before he enrolled and that it was โin the past.โ Within hours, the story had taken a turn:
Durham did not definitively say whether he still held the violent beliefs that appeared in his social media posts, which were published in 2021.
โI canโt put an exact date on it because a lot of this stuff is messy. But itโs been, I think, a year or more by now,โ since he was last affiliated with Patriot Front, Durham said.
Early Thursday morning, Jan. 26, several hours after Durham spoke with reporters for this story, the University of Colorado Police Department (CUPD) responded to reports of suspicious activity in Durhamโs residence hall.ย
According to police records, officers found Durham with two people that police described as โolder friends from Longmont,โ just before 2 a.m. Durham failed to clarify to law enforcement how he knew the two individuals in his room, and witnesses told police they felt uncomfortable with the presence of Durham and the other adults.ย
One of the witnesses told police the pair of older adults were part of the white nationalist group Durham has been affiliated with. The two individuals were โtold to leave the buildingโ and did, according to police records.
According to the police report, witnesses also saw Patriot Front messages and propaganda on Durhamโs laptop. Witnesses told police Durham was communicating with members of the hate group through the messaging app Telegram.ย
Sources who described the encounter to the CU Independent and The Bold did so on the condition of anonymity, as they were worried they would be harmed for coming forward. People familiar with the incident said Durham returned to the dorms the next day, Jan. 27, to move out.