Dr. Sammy Lee has passed away at the age of 96. Awhile ago I had name the 10 best Asian athletes I knew. I did not name athletes from sports which are dominated by Asians. Since diving is dominated by China, I did not think of putting any diver on the list. In retrospect that was an error on my part. Dr. Lee was not only the first Asian American to win a gold medal in the Olympics, he did it when public pools did not allow nonwhites to us the facility. So not only did Dr. Lee shot down the stereotype of Asians not being good athletes, he did it while being discriminated against.
At 5 foot 1 inch, Dr. Lee was short in stature but he cast a giant shadow. He won two gold medals plus a bronze. He graduated from medical school while training and serving in the army. He is like our Dr. Roger Bannister. After retiring from diving competition and the army medical corp, he coached numerous Olympic level divers. Among them were Bob Webster who also won two gold medals and Greg Louganis, probably the greatest diver in history. Both Webster and Louganis stated that Dr. Lee was not only their coach but their mentor in life.
So rest in peace Dr. Sammy Lee. You have been and always will be an inspiration for us.
Sunday, December 04, 2016
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I wondered if you had seen that Dr. Lee had died. Interesting thing I read was that when he lived in Pasadena as a kid, he would go to the pool on the days only colored people could go. After the colored kids were done, they would empty the pool and put in clean water.
ReplyDeleteHe tried to buy a house in Garden Grove after the war and Olympics but was told by the realtor that he could not sell him one there because house values would go down and the realtor would be fired. It took some high ranking people in the Federal government that he knew because he was an Olympic hero, to sway people in California to sell him a house. Interestingly, Garden Grove is the city one of my best friends lived when he first moved to California and my friend is Asian!
Dr. Lee lived a full and long life. At 5/ 1" I am convinced that being short helps you live longer. So my brother (who is shorter than I am) and other siblings will all live longer lives than me!
-LBOAYM
I think I read the same article you did. It reminds me of the late Senator Daniel Inouye who lost an arm in the war. When he came back to the U.S. he was called a Jap and refused services at restaurants. At least times have changed for the better for the most part. Garden Grove has a large Asian population now, particularly Vietnamese. Dr. Lee would have been welcomed with open arm today in Garden Grove or Pasadena. When did your friend move there?
ReplyDeleteAre you sure you are taller than your brother? My brother makes the same claim but he is shorter than I am! I am not sure being short means longer life. I know dancing is supposed to help. But watching DWTS all the time does not count!
I met Dr. Lee at a driving range in Garden Grove 15 years ago. He wasn't much bigger than his cart bag but to me, meeting an Asian American gold medalist who competed during his era, he was bigger than life! He was thoughtful enough to mail a letter to my daughter who is a student athlete with a personal hand written note of encouragement to always give her best in competition. A truly inspirational and incredible human being.
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