hi all, I'm writing from Italy. Hope not to be politically incorrect, you know, sometimes one uses wrong expressions which may be offensive without knowing it - English is not my language.
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My question: has someone understood why there are no black swimmers at the top of the world rankings? is there a physiologic reason? Thank you Antonio
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Former Member
This is an interesting question about which I have not given much thought even though it has been staring me in the face for years. My neighborhood YMCA is a major metropolitan inner-city facility and has been around for about 100 years. It has the usual gym, indoor basketball courts, weight rooms, etc., plus an indoor swimming pool. The membership is predominantly people of color (perhaps 80%) with African Americans being the largest group (perhaps 60%). Yet only about 10% of swimmers are people of color and those are almost exclusively Asians. I am sure the reasons must be social/cultural, but it is surprising given the length of time the YMCA has offered swimming to this community. I'm surprised I never really thought about it before--but then again I see people as people and tend not to think about thier race that often.
This is an interesting question about which I have not given much thought even though it has been staring me in the face for years. My neighborhood YMCA is a major metropolitan inner-city facility and has been around for about 100 years. It has the usual gym, indoor basketball courts, weight rooms, etc., plus an indoor swimming pool. The membership is predominantly people of color (perhaps 80%) with African Americans being the largest group (perhaps 60%). Yet only about 10% of swimmers are people of color and those are almost exclusively Asians. I am sure the reasons must be social/cultural, but it is surprising given the length of time the YMCA has offered swimming to this community. I'm surprised I never really thought about it before--but then again I see people as people and tend not to think about thier race that often.
