sammy lee, an asian american olympic pioneer

This is another great Los Angeles Times story on diver Sammy Lee, the first American of Asian descent to win an Olympic gold medal. He won gold in the men's platform at the London Games in 1948, and won again at Helsinki in 1952. The man is a legend: Sammy Lee never let racism stop him from becoming a world ambassador in diving.

Not bad for someone who could only practice the one day a week the public pool was open to nonwhites. Considering the era he came up in, and the many obstacles and day-to-day prejudices that were right up in his face, it's truly amazing what he was able to accomplish:

By then, unfortunately, Lee had grown accustomed to such slights, such as being allowed to use the Brookside Park Pool in Pasadena only on Wednesdays — when it was open to non-whites on the day before it was to be drained and refilled.

Or the time he was shut out of a party as a youth and tearfully bemoaned his heritage to his father.

"He said, 'Son, you were born a free American,'" Lee remembers. "'You can do anything you want because you're free, but if you are not proud of the color of your skin and the shape of your eyes, you'll never be accepted.'"

Luckily for Lee, he soon found in the 6-foot-4, 275-pound Jim Ryan a hulking coach who was profane but like-minded and told friends he'd turn "that Jap" into the world's greatest diver.

"I went over, grabbed him by the belt buckle and said, 'I'm not a Chink, I'm not a Jap, I'm a Korean,'" Lee notes, laughing. "He turned me around, kicked me in the butt and said, 'I don't give a ... if you're Filipino.'

Now 90 and retired from his practice as a ear, nose and throat doctor, Dr. Lee will be honored next week as part of the inaugural class inducted into the L.A. Unified School District High School Sports Hall of Fame. The kids need to learn about this cool sports hero!

Speaking of the kids and Sammy Lee, there's actually a great children's book that tells his incredible story: Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story by Paula Yoo and illustrated by Dom Lee. Perfect for the kid who wants to learn about Asian American heroes.