Name: Cullen Jones Profession: Olympic Swimmer Age: 31 Cullen Jones first made waves onto our television screen after winning a gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China as part of the legendary 4 x 100 free relay team. While his accomplishments as a professional swimmer read like a modern day history book, with him being the first African American to break many records, the young 31-year-old recognizes that his career achievements are only a reflection of the work that needs to be done. With drowning being the second-leading cause of injury-related death for children under the age of 14 and with African American children having a drowning rate three times higher than their white peers, Jones is aware that his influence and platform as a professional swimmer is bigger than him. Serving as the first major ambassador for the USA Swimming Foundation's Make a Splash initiative, Jones makes it his duty to pay it forward by teaching young kids across the country how to swim. "They put in front of me the drowning statistics in the U.S. and for someone who almost drowned at the age of five, and growing up in the sport I just felt it was my way of giving back," Jones tells BE Modern Man exclusively. Opening up about his entry into swimming, the Bronx native discovered his love for the sport following a freak accident that took place on a family vacation where he almost drowned after being under water for nearly 30 seconds. "We now know that a child under water for about 30 seconds can start to have brain damage and potentially die. So they pulled me out of the water. I was completely non-responsive and they had to give me CPR," says Jones. "So yea, that could have been the last day of my life at five because I didn't know anything about water." Following the accident, Jones parents immediately enrolled him into swimming classes where he soon learned that his love for the sport was more than just a side hobby. During his college years at North Carolina State University, Jones earned a place on the U.S. National Team in 2005 and qualified for the World University Games where he became the first African American man to win a gold medal. In 2006, he became the first African American man to break a world record in swimming at the Pan Pacific Games as part of the 4 x 100 free relay. He was also a four-time ACC champion and a 2006 NCAA champion at NC State. Read more on page 2... While Jones has reached much success within his career, he makes it clear that his biggest reward is being able to connect with the kids who look up to him. "Professionally, I've had a lot of success in my life but working with kids and taking a step back and looking at my career, I think working with the USA Swimming Foundation and Make a Splash tour is really my biggest triumph," said Jones. "We are nearly at 3.5 million kids and we started at zero." As one of the few African Americans who have found acclaimed success in his field, Jones admits that he faced a lot of self-doubt early in his career. "It was so many different questions throughout the road in terms of why am I doing this and how do I get to the next level," he said. "I think what set me apart was just something that my parents instilled in me at a young age, which was no matter who or what's around you, if you have a dream you stick with it." Holding tight to the words that his parents whispered in his ear at a young age, Jones has clearly made his dreams a reality with not one, but two Olympic gold medals under his belt and two silver medals after competing in the 2012 London Olympic Games. As someone who is charting a path of his own to be a trailblazer in the sport of swimming, Jones says that when thinks of the term BE Modern Man he is reminded of the constantly changing world that we live in where new interests and industry leaders are created on a daily basis. "I think as a culture, we're jumping into things that we've never done before and I think that is the definition of being modern. We are into things like chess, we're into pool and we're into skating and all kinds of different things. I applaud that. I always say to people, ‘Dare to be different,'" adds Jones. "My dad was a basketball player and wanted me to be a basketball player. I think if he was alive today, he would be very proud to see me doing something different and being successful at it." Black Enterprise salutes Cullen Jones for not only his contribution to the sport of swimming, but for the impact that he continues to make in his community. We wish him nothing but success as he prepares to compete in the upcoming 2016 Olympics.