Air Academy junior swimmer Devon Davis stands out when he walks around the pool.

The all-American is 6-foot-2, 169 pounds … and he’s black.

“It’s not something you see every day,” said Davis about being an elite black swimmer. “It surprises some people.”

Every race Davis aims to end the stereotype that black people can’t swim and he hopes his success can encourage other black kids to get swimming.

As of now, according to a study sponsored by USA Swimming, 58 percent of black children can’t swim. In fact, black children drown at a rate of three times higher than white children.

Thursday, as Davis emerged from posting one of the best times in the 100 breaststroke at the Cheyenne Mountain Invitational preliminaries (finals are Saturday), he thought long and hard about the startling disparity with race and swimming.

“I think for black kids, swimming just isn’t that well known for them. It’s not shown on TV and it just isn’t as publicized as much as other sports,” Davis said. “I really want to show them, though, it is possible to get out here and be successful.”

Growing up in Italy, where father was stationed by the Air Force, Davis was strides away from a pool. At the age of 9, he first made his splash.

“My mom saw how much I liked it, so like a month later she got me onto an Italian (club) team,” Davis said. “I just went from there.”

Last year Davis moved to Colorado Springs as a sophomore and quickly became an all-American for the Kadets, who took fourth at 4A state.

When asked, Davis can spout out each of his personal-best times from a year ago quicker than a paper cut. But it’s his best performance that he’ll just sigh in disgust about — the 100 fly in an all-American time of 50.54 seconds.

“That got me third at state,” said Davis as he shook his head. “Like two-hundredths of a second off wining.”

“He always wants to do better,” Air Academy coach Scott Newell added. “He can do special things every time he’s out here.”

As a junior, Davis is built like a running back and he only wants to get bigger — it helps him gain a mental edge over his opponents, he says. In doing so, his ultimate dream is to become the fourth black swimmer to make the US Olympic squad.

But for now, he and his teammates are worried about this season.

And while Newell shies away from saying the words — his swimmers don’t.

“We want to take it all,” senior Justin Dearden said.

Davis and Air Academy look to win the third meet in three tries Saturday.

Air Academy swimmer Devon Davis Photo by