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'It's the only sport that can save your life': BGSU swim coach overcomes tragedy to inspire others

When Rickey Perkins was two years old, his father died in a drowning accident. He's now coached swimming for more than 30 years.

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Rickey Perkins is the man leading Bowling Green State University's swimming and diving programs. But as one of the few Black coaches at Bowling Green, most people wouldn't guess that.

"It would be like, 'You're the swim coach?' They're like, 'You must be the football coach or the basketball coach' and it's like, 'No, I'm the swim coach,'" Perkins said.

How Perkins got into the world of swimming is unlikely. At two years old, Perkins' father died by drowning in a boating accident.

"They were on a boat fishing in a lake," Perkins explained. "A bigger boat came by and it tipped over. He decided to swim for help. He got caught up in some weeds. I say my dad died a hero."

It would be more than a decade later before Perkins got in the water.

"For a long time my mom didn't want us to swim," Perkins said. "Just trying to protect us."

The Texas native said his mother eventually did let him go in the water, but with a few caveats.

"We did go to a lake," Perkins said. "I remember I had a life jacket on, rope tied to me, tied to the dock. I wasn't going any place."

Perkins' mother was eventually convinced to let her son take organized swim lessons. In his early teens, Perkins was easily the oldest in a class of first-time swimmers.

"I remember taking swim lessons when I was 13, 14 years old," Perkins said. "I was with the little six-year-olds. I learned pretty fast. It came almost naturally."

Before the start of high school, Perkins was deciding between taking the football route or the swimming route and decided to do what most other Black kids didn't and swim.

"As an African-American, there's not many swimmers out there at all so this may be something that [I] can lead a different way," Perkins said.

Perkins parlayed his high school swimming career into a collegiate one at Alaska Anchorage. After several years as an assistant coach, the Seawolf alum assumed the role of head coach. Perkins made a couple of stops before taking the head job at BGSU in 2018. 

In those more than 30 years of coaching, Perkins has seen more and more Black people get into competitive swimming. He hopes his career is inspiring Black kids to think about swimming too.

"I hope I am in my own little way. I'm just in my own little area. I'm just trying to do my best in my own local area and to be a good example," Perkins said.

Perkins believes there's one thing swimming has that all other sports don't, and it's why more Black people should get into swimming.

"It's the only sport that can save your life," Perkins said. "It doesn't matter how fast you run, dribble a ball or whatever else you do, but this place right here, it can kill you. You have to learn how to swim."

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