Cullen Jones: Swimming's Greatest Asset

Cullen Jones is only one athlete, with one Olympic gold medal. 

Swimming's Greatest Asset? 

Sure, my title is bold in the aftermath of Michael Phelps' 8 for 8 performance in Beijing. I'm sticking by it, though. In the long run, when swimming history is written in a social context, I know Cullen Jones will be king. 

If you considered the face of American today, you can't deny all of the colors and shades. We're a multi-racial nation, and we're better because of it. When different cultures flow together, we all benefit from a creative energy. I believe is it empowering, even life-sustaining. In our on-going story it is what makes us great.

Cullen Jones is aware of his role in this narrative, and he is graciously following in the footsteps of other great athletes who have broken the color barrier. While Cullen is only one color, he recognizes the rainbow as well. Cullen encourages African Americans to swim, but his message encompasses everyone.  

If swimming, as a sport, is ever going to reflect the face of American society, it will be because of Cullen's testimonial, and his cross-country promotion of diversity. Cullen Jones is the key. Without him, our story remains the same: near-absence from urban and minority communities. 

Sometimes images are more telling! Checkout this kid who is so emotionally connected:

Just because Cullen is a man of color does not mean he qualifies for this role as king. It takes a unique mix of intelligence, charisma, compassion and patience. Fortunately, for us, Cullen has it all. He's a true star. I know. I've been privy to a few conversations, and I've heard about all the companies and media networks clamoring for a piece of his image.

Checkout this commercial and you'll see why:

Additionally, Cullen has sex appeal. I've heard it from many different women, often described the same way: "Cullen's not arrogant. He's sexy and attractive, in a completely approachable way." 

Check Cullen out in this video making a connection with a Candace Brooke Silva, a big blogger who follows swimming (among many other things on her show OH YES THEY DID):

  

Here's Cullen connecting with Heather Lettieri (one of my favorite Facebook friends):

Is Cullen swimming's greatest asset? 

It's a tough question when you consider it. Granted, Michael Phelps is the reason we've drawn in fans beyond our niche community, but if we want to sign up kids who have traditionally gravitated to basketball, football and baseball, I believe Cullen, in the long run, will have the greatest impact.

Comments

[crystal]

i would like to say that i'm currently hopping on the cullen jones train of epic. Candace and Heather saw what great a person/athlete he is way before i did. i've been all about Phelps and Lochte, but i've also been in my little G bubble too. (Grevers, Gangloff, Garrett (Weber-Gale) - the first name counts). but a big thanks to you Mel, for posting these vids and giving Cullen the love that you do, and that he deserves.

and that johnson and johnson commercial gets me every single time.

[Heather]

Well, I was going to post basically the same thing as Candace, so I'll just skip that and agree with her to the fullest!

Thanks so much for the video, Mel... I CAN NOT wait for Cullen to come back to Jersey and do some stuff with his tour! We are so proud of all of his accomplishments here... I am so stoked. (I know for sure Candace will be tagging along right there with me lol)

[Candace]

Yes and yes. I can't say enough about how important Cullen Jones' role in swimming is. I'm mixed race so maybe I take these things a bit more to heart than some, but I think it's so important to show minority children (or anyone for that matter) that they have options outside what's expected of them or what they might normally be exposed to - and that's exactly what he's doing.

This is precisely why I get a bit aggravated when I see certain people getting massive amounts of attention (albeit well deserved) for their accomplishments when I think a lot of the focused needs to be shifted toward Cullen, as his role has a much more significant social context - which, like you said, is going to be more meaningful in the long run.

Honestly, I think sometimes people don't want to have to think about these issues. It might just be easier to piggyback off of a story that's triumphant and doesn't have all of these other social/racial layers that need to be considered because while it may resonate with you, you don't have to think about it later on. I mean, if you think about it, it's a lot easier to digest a story about Ryan Lochte than one about Cullen Jones (from what we know, anyway.)

You know I have mad love for Phelps and I think he's inspired a lot of kids to swim but having him be the "face" of swimming only goes so far in terms of reaching a broad audience - there's a lot of kids out there that, while they can admire him, can't really relate to him on the same level as Cullen Jones.

I just hope people get on the Cullen train 'cause it's going places!

And again, thank you so much for the video!