Tiger Woods forever changed the image of golf. Venus and Serena Williams made tennis a fun, viable sport for girls of color. And Yao Ming made it acceptable for Asians to play basketball. Swimming has no such minority role models--yet. Here are six individuals who could change that.

TIM DUNCAN

The San Antonio Spurs center was a nationally ranked swimmer until the age of 14, when his community pool in the U.S. Virgin Islands was destroyed by Hurricane Hugo. Now national organizations such as the International Swimming Hall of Fame want to recruit Duncan as the poster athlete for swimming.

SEAN PAUL

The popular Dancehall DJ has played water polo since the age of 5, thanks to his father, who heads the Jamaican Water Polo Federation. As a multiethnic artist with Jamaican, Chinese and Portuguese roots, Sean Paul could inspire kids to pursue aquatic sports in addition to music and other activities.

ANTHONY ERVIN

In 2000, Ervin became the first African-American swimmer to make a U.S. Olympic team. What's more, the sprinter identifies with numerous ethnic groups --his father is black, mom is Jewish and he practices Zen Buddhism--making him accessible to many Americans.

MARITZA CORREIA

In 2004, Correia became the first black woman to qualify for an Olympic swim team. She was born in Puerto Rico to parents of Guyanese descent. Today, the athlete works with inner-city schools and detention centers to get underprivileged kids involved in swimming.

SABIR MUHAMMAD

A nationally ranked athlete, Muhammad learned to swim in Atlanta's inner city. He received a full scholarship to Stanford and was the first black man to swim on its varsity team. The photogenic Muhammad also models, but his passion is Swim for Life, a nonprofit he founded to teach inner-city kids to swim.

ALISON TERRY

The biracial San Diego lifeguard and past Olympic hopeful organized a grassroots program to expose underprivileged school-age children to aquatics. Last year, the Aquatic Foundation of Metropolitan Los Angeles recognized Terry alongside Magic Johnson, Muhammad Ali and others for her outreach efforts.