Pathways to Excellence – Hamblin No Longer Shying Away from “Swimmer” Label
4/30/2021 9:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Beyond Cream & Crimson
Bloomington, Indiana - As a youth, Brandon Hamblin was one of the best up-and-coming swimmers in the state of Virginia. His abilities in the pool were obvious early on, and those around him knew it.
But when those who didn't know Brandon would ask him about what he did, not only would he shy away from being too braggadocios about his abilities, he found it hard to even label himself by his preferred sport.
"I found myself saying I'm a football player or I'm on the travel basketball team," Hamblin said. "While I'm saying that, I was one of the top eight swimmers in the state in multiple events."
Hamblin wasn't lying – he did play multiple sports growing up, and he exceled in football, basketball and baseball. But while he showed the ability to be one of the area's best in those sports, he was displaying the potential to be one of the nation's best in swimming, someone who'd eventually become a Big Ten champion and All-American at IU.
A level of humility might have been a small part of the reason why Hamblin – who is African-American- refused to shine a light on his abilities in the pool. But the over-riding reason was because of what he saw when he was on the pool deck.
"All the other sports, I stuck with them because there were a lot more guys that looked like me in football and basketball," said Hamblin.
Historically, Swimming has been a white-dominated sport at all levels. On the 2012 U.S. Olympic team, only three out of the 24 male swimmers and two out of 25 female swimmers were people of color. According to the USA Swimming's 2019 Membership Demographic Report, of the 216,397 individual members who responded to the ethnicity question on their registration form, only 4,481 (2.1% of respondents) identified as African American or Black.
As an African-American, that reality made it hard for Hamblin to fully embrace the "swimmer" label. Making it even harder were some of the looks he'd receive and some of the words he'd hear.
"Growing up, you hear the murmurs, you'd hear the comments like 'this ain't the basketball court,' or 'Black people swim?'" Hamblin said.
"Everything is coded as a joke, but you hear some things enough times, it really rubs you the wrong way. But you just put your head down and deal with it as best you can."
Hamblin did his best to set that all aside and he continued to blossom in a sport that he wasn't ready to truly embrace. Things ultimately changed for the better when he arrived at North Stafford High school in Stafford, Va., and his abilities were cause for celebration, not befuddlement.
"I was blessed to go to a great high school with a lot of diversity and everyone embraced each other's differences," Hamblin said. "I was part of a state championship relay team as a freshman, and I had football coaches, basketball coaches, football players coming up to me saying how cool it was what I had done. Suddenly, it was cool to be a swimmer.
"After that, that's when the sense of pride kicked in that this is who I am. Yeah, I'm a black swimmer, but I'm also a good swimmer in general. I finally took pride in who I was and that's when I really took off."
While Hamblin was fully embraced by his North Stafford H.S. community, he can still remember an experience at a meet his junior year that stands out.
"Nothing was actually said, but I remember this group of spectators, and they had this look of shock when I came in with the team," Hamblin said. "I had one of my best high school dual meets that day because I wanted to show these guys what a brother could do."
Hamblin showed – and continues to show – that he's capable of a whole lot in the pool. At the prep level he was a two-time state champion in the 50 freestyle, and was recently named the Swimmer of the Decade by Free Lance-Star newspaper in Fredericksburg, Va. He parlayed that success at the prep level into a great deal of recruiting interest before he eventually settled on swimming for Ray Looze at IU.
Since arriving at IU, Hamblin's successes continued. Now a junior, he's earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in each of his first three seasons as a member of IU's Big Ten champion 200 freestyle relay teams. He's also captured four All-America honors while helping the program to a third-place finish at the 2019 NCAA Championships and a sixth-place finish this spring (the 2020 NCAA meet was canceled due to COVID-19).
He's enjoyed similar successes academically. A Marketing major, Hamblin was one of 32 students selected as William R. Fry Scholars at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business upon his arrival in Bloomington in 2018. The program is geared toward students who are traditionally underrepresented in the field of business. In addition to offering programming that includes personal, academic and professional development, it also took care of the remaining tuition and fees that were not covered by his partial athletic scholarship.
Hamblin said that besides the fact that both he and father's jaws dropped when they learned the Frys Scholars Program would cover his remaining academic expenses, that experience has been an important and rewarding opportunity.
"In a predominantly white institution - I think IU is 3% black - it feels good to have that diverse group of intellectuals in the classroom that you can look at and think they grew up like me," Hamblin said. "It's really c0ol to have that group and that network and a blessing to be a part of it, and meet all the people I have."
As he continues to embrace his chosen sport and enjoy these great successes in the pool and in the classroom, Hamblin hasn't lost site of the challenges he faced as a youth swimmer because of his race. In an effort to help other IU student-athletes with issues that they might be facing he's chosen to be involved with a number of programs through IU's Excellence Academy.
He's a Hoosier Heroes mentor, which gives him the chance to be paired with an incoming freshman student-athlete to help them adjust to the challenges of balancing the demands of their sport and school. He's also Swimming's representative on the IU Athletic Director's Diversity Council, a role that he coveted as soon as he first heard about it as a freshman from teammate Josh Romany.
At the time Romany was a senior and the Swimming team's representative on the group. Following his graduation, Hamblin sought out the chance to take his spot. Now in his second year on the Council, Hamblin appreciates the opportunities that it provides to have a voice and to make a difference.
"I love the dialogue that we share," Hamblin said. "It's not all one race; we have representation from White, Black, the LGBTQ communities. It's something that has really enhanced my experience at IU. It's the best third-party thing I've done and it's helped motivate me to make a difference.
"It also says a lot about IU and it lets you know the athletic department cares. You're talking directly with the athletic director once a month and sharing your thoughts. It let's you know IU Athletics is doing its part, and that hopefully with what we decide in those meetings, we're enhancing the experience for IU student-athletes that are there now and that will be there in the future."
But when those who didn't know Brandon would ask him about what he did, not only would he shy away from being too braggadocios about his abilities, he found it hard to even label himself by his preferred sport.
"I found myself saying I'm a football player or I'm on the travel basketball team," Hamblin said. "While I'm saying that, I was one of the top eight swimmers in the state in multiple events."
A level of humility might have been a small part of the reason why Hamblin – who is African-American- refused to shine a light on his abilities in the pool. But the over-riding reason was because of what he saw when he was on the pool deck.
"All the other sports, I stuck with them because there were a lot more guys that looked like me in football and basketball," said Hamblin.
Historically, Swimming has been a white-dominated sport at all levels. On the 2012 U.S. Olympic team, only three out of the 24 male swimmers and two out of 25 female swimmers were people of color. According to the USA Swimming's 2019 Membership Demographic Report, of the 216,397 individual members who responded to the ethnicity question on their registration form, only 4,481 (2.1% of respondents) identified as African American or Black.
As an African-American, that reality made it hard for Hamblin to fully embrace the "swimmer" label. Making it even harder were some of the looks he'd receive and some of the words he'd hear.
"Growing up, you hear the murmurs, you'd hear the comments like 'this ain't the basketball court,' or 'Black people swim?'" Hamblin said.
"Everything is coded as a joke, but you hear some things enough times, it really rubs you the wrong way. But you just put your head down and deal with it as best you can."
Hamblin did his best to set that all aside and he continued to blossom in a sport that he wasn't ready to truly embrace. Things ultimately changed for the better when he arrived at North Stafford High school in Stafford, Va., and his abilities were cause for celebration, not befuddlement.
"I was blessed to go to a great high school with a lot of diversity and everyone embraced each other's differences," Hamblin said. "I was part of a state championship relay team as a freshman, and I had football coaches, basketball coaches, football players coming up to me saying how cool it was what I had done. Suddenly, it was cool to be a swimmer.
"After that, that's when the sense of pride kicked in that this is who I am. Yeah, I'm a black swimmer, but I'm also a good swimmer in general. I finally took pride in who I was and that's when I really took off."
While Hamblin was fully embraced by his North Stafford H.S. community, he can still remember an experience at a meet his junior year that stands out.
"Nothing was actually said, but I remember this group of spectators, and they had this look of shock when I came in with the team," Hamblin said. "I had one of my best high school dual meets that day because I wanted to show these guys what a brother could do."
Hamblin showed – and continues to show – that he's capable of a whole lot in the pool. At the prep level he was a two-time state champion in the 50 freestyle, and was recently named the Swimmer of the Decade by Free Lance-Star newspaper in Fredericksburg, Va. He parlayed that success at the prep level into a great deal of recruiting interest before he eventually settled on swimming for Ray Looze at IU.
Since arriving at IU, Hamblin's successes continued. Now a junior, he's earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in each of his first three seasons as a member of IU's Big Ten champion 200 freestyle relay teams. He's also captured four All-America honors while helping the program to a third-place finish at the 2019 NCAA Championships and a sixth-place finish this spring (the 2020 NCAA meet was canceled due to COVID-19).
He's enjoyed similar successes academically. A Marketing major, Hamblin was one of 32 students selected as William R. Fry Scholars at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business upon his arrival in Bloomington in 2018. The program is geared toward students who are traditionally underrepresented in the field of business. In addition to offering programming that includes personal, academic and professional development, it also took care of the remaining tuition and fees that were not covered by his partial athletic scholarship.
Hamblin said that besides the fact that both he and father's jaws dropped when they learned the Frys Scholars Program would cover his remaining academic expenses, that experience has been an important and rewarding opportunity.
"In a predominantly white institution - I think IU is 3% black - it feels good to have that diverse group of intellectuals in the classroom that you can look at and think they grew up like me," Hamblin said. "It's really c0ol to have that group and that network and a blessing to be a part of it, and meet all the people I have."
As he continues to embrace his chosen sport and enjoy these great successes in the pool and in the classroom, Hamblin hasn't lost site of the challenges he faced as a youth swimmer because of his race. In an effort to help other IU student-athletes with issues that they might be facing he's chosen to be involved with a number of programs through IU's Excellence Academy.
He's a Hoosier Heroes mentor, which gives him the chance to be paired with an incoming freshman student-athlete to help them adjust to the challenges of balancing the demands of their sport and school. He's also Swimming's representative on the IU Athletic Director's Diversity Council, a role that he coveted as soon as he first heard about it as a freshman from teammate Josh Romany.
At the time Romany was a senior and the Swimming team's representative on the group. Following his graduation, Hamblin sought out the chance to take his spot. Now in his second year on the Council, Hamblin appreciates the opportunities that it provides to have a voice and to make a difference.
"I love the dialogue that we share," Hamblin said. "It's not all one race; we have representation from White, Black, the LGBTQ communities. It's something that has really enhanced my experience at IU. It's the best third-party thing I've done and it's helped motivate me to make a difference.
"It also says a lot about IU and it lets you know the athletic department cares. You're talking directly with the athletic director once a month and sharing your thoughts. It let's you know IU Athletics is doing its part, and that hopefully with what we decide in those meetings, we're enhancing the experience for IU student-athletes that are there now and that will be there in the future."
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