black swimmers

RE: black swimmers

joshua — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 11:16:13 GMT

I have been following this thread and here are my thoughts: The basic question, as I see it, is this: is there a connection between race and certain physical abilities? The question arises naturally when you take into account the lack of black success in swimming, the total domination of people of western African descent in the sprints and the same dominance of east Africans in the long distance runs. The truth is that we don't know because there is, to the best of my knowledge, no real scientific research on the matter. It is a very delicate subject that brings bad memories. Also, undoubtedly there are many social, economical and even psychological factors involved. Having said all that, I have to honestly state that all these factors do not satisfy me. Since the lack of black success in swimming has been discussed greatly here, allow me to address running. All top men 100m. sprinters and nearly all women are of west African descent. The 10 second barrier has been broken 82 times, only one sprinter was white. Lack of black success in swimming can perhaps be explained to a large degree (but not totally IMHO) by social and economic factors, but running is trickier. There are plenty of white sprinters, especially in eastern Europe. They have good coaching and excellent facilities. There is also a great running tradition. Why don't they make it to the top? The same question can be asked about the distance races. The sport of distance running is totally dominated by east Africans. Why? There is a great distance running tradition in many western countries, yet very very few world or Olympic champions. Therefore, I would have to say that this entire question is an open issue.

RE: black swimmers

Elaine Krugman — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 10:35:43 GMT

Cullen Jones just took 2 nd in the 50 free at the Olympics.:applaud::banana: WoooHOOOO! I was so happy he beat Cielo for the silver. :cheerleader: I was ticked off at NBC, though, for doing a big feature story on Cielo, talking a bit about Ervin, then introducing Cullen as "the other American..." :bitching: Whaaaaat? And, Cullen ended up beating Ervin. :banana: I'm happy for Cullen; he is taking home some nice hardware after his 50 and relays. :bliss:

RE: black swimmers

Former Member — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 06:18:32 GMT

I hope that you can read this outside the UK, but an article on female African swimmers at the Olympics from The Guardian www.guardian.co.uk/.../london-2012-slow-swimmers

RE: black swimmers

Former Member — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 13:38:04 GMT

Fourth in the 100m *** stroke isn't too shabby. Alia Atkinson of Jamaica: www.jamaicaobserver.com/.../Alia-Atkinson-s-inspiring-effort-needs-support_12135168 jamaica-gleaner.com/.../Alia-Atkinson.jpg

RE: black swimmers

orca1946 — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 11:36:38 GMT

Cullen Jones just took 2 nd in the 50 free at the Olympics.:applaud::banana:

RE: black swimmers

Former Member — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 12:56:24 GMT

Coralie Balmy picked up a bronze in the 4x200 FR last night: www.london2012.com/.../

RE: black swimmers

Former Member — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 16:39:56 GMT

The Boston Globe - Thursday, July 26, 2012 Mandatory swimming lessons a lifeline in Boston The Boys & Girls Club of Boston is nearly one year into an initiative requiring all members to take swim lessons. The program, launched last fall, is part of an aggressive approach to combat child drowning deaths — especially among the city’s black and Hispanic children, who are at a significantly higher risk of drowning. The approach taken by the Boys & Girls Club of Boston mirrors efforts nationwide to increase swimming rates among children of color. www.bostonglobe.com/.../story.html

RE: black swimmers

Former Member — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 14:13:57 GMT

reachforthewall.com/.../

RE: black swimmers

Former Member — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:40:50 GMT

www.foxsports.com.au/.../story-fn5k3iok-1226430524535 Bryant spent time signing autographs and posing for photos before asking for a few mementos himself. The LA Lakers shooting guard asked Stephanie Rice to sign a swimming cap for his two daughters, who are passionate about their swimming.

RE: black swimmers

Former Member — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 12:38:04 GMT

I always wondered what it'd be like to have swimming in gym. Do they even do that anymore? Seems like a lot of time, money, and potential issues (ex. Fat kid's parents sueing the school for making him wear a being suit or whatever other nonsense happens these days) As teenagers, we (boys) had swimming as part of gym class in school, a generation ago, but it was a free swim (recreational, completely disorganized and without any instruction or drills, etc.). Fun, but largely a waste of time, and a huge missed opportunity to teach/learn/accomplish something useful and important. Like Karl S., we swam nude during gym class--that was the custom for males then--so swimsuits weren't an issue, but you could be right; in today's litigious culture a local school board might get sued for asking a kid to wear a bathing suit during school hours, not to mention the fact that if little Johnny just doesn't want to do something, well that might constitute another reason to run to court or at least fire the teacher, principal and superintendent. But that nonsense doesn't necessarily turn a good idea (or at least an intriguing idea) into a bad idea. The college I attended required all undergraduate students, male and female, to pass a very basic swim test before they could get a bachelor's degree, but that requirement went the way of the dinosaurs the year I graduated. (I read that the college swim test had been a common requirement at many New England colleges--and maybe elsewhere--throughout the 20th century, inspired by the drowning on the Titanic of a non-swimmer Harvard student (Widener, for whom the library is named), not that being a swimmer would have helped him that much. The issue of whether swimming should be taught somewhere in the educational system is a very good question. Ideally, it ought to be introduced earlier, for example in elementary school, before many kids develop a fear of water and when kids seem to learn easier and retain better what they've learned. I think the biggest challenge would be financial: most public schools do not have pools (as far as I know), and building them would probably be cost-prohibitive. (The only reason we had swimming as part of gym class was because our school was so old it had no gymnasium, so boys had their gym classes at a nearby YMCA that also had a pool.) On the other hand, what is the value of the lives that might be saved, not to mention improved and extended through healthier lifestyles resulting from having learned an activity that one can engage in regardless of age, especially in view of the huge amounts of money that governments waste on so many things?

RE: black swimmers

jaadams1 — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 12:51:07 GMT

I think that has changed a lot in the last few decades. Most cities now really concentrate on providing recreation facilities in poorer areas. Not to say there aren't exceptions, but I'll betcha these days most major cities have nice public pools available in neighborhoods with high concentrations of minorities. The next step is getting the families in these areas to use the pools and to sign their kids up for swim lessons. In my personal experience it's working. I swim at a public pool in a fairly well off area of the city. I would say at least half the kids I see taking lessons are minorities. Muslims seem to be especially proactive in signing their children up for lessons. In the Wenatchee area, I've noticed at the three swimming facilities that a large % of the kids in the swim lessons this summer are hispanic. Part of this could be because of the multiple recent drownings over the past year in the Wenatchee area that have got significant news coverage. 4 drownings, all 4 being hispanic. 1 in the H.S. pool during class, 1 in a motel pool (unguarded), and the other two in the river or lake (also unguarded). Out of my son's swim lesson class, all are hispanic...my son included. He's 50/50, but we always claim hispanic on all information sheets. You never know when it'll give him an advantage sometime in the future.

RE: black swimmers

That Guy — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 12:50:06 GMT

www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../31248.asp

RE: black swimmers

knelson — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 12:39:25 GMT

How can a tradition take off in a culture that has no access to clean pools? I think that has changed a lot in the last few decades. Most cities now really concentrate on providing recreation facilities in poorer areas. Not to say there aren't exceptions, but I'll betcha these days most major cities have nice public pools available in neighborhoods with high concentrations of minorities. The next step is getting the families in these areas to use the pools and to sign their kids up for swim lessons. In my personal experience it's working. I swim at a public pool in a fairly well off area of the city. I would say at least half the kids I see taking lessons are minorities. Muslims seem to be especially proactive in signing their children up for lessons.

RE: black swimmers

Former Member — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 09:06:29 GMT

RE: black swimmers

Karl_S — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 05:53:36 GMT

...Fat kid's parents sueing the school for making him wear a being suit... That's a laugh. When I had swimming in middle-school PE class we wore nothing at all. After a few days of that nonsense those of us who were competitive swimmers started to bring our own suits because swimming in the buff is neither comfortable or fast if you are actually swimming.

RE: black swimmers

jaadams1 — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 05:29:26 GMT

I had it in both junior high and high school. Our school disticts do it both in about 4th grade and again in high school. I think it's better to have the 4th graders doing the swimming, because your body will "remember" the skills better than trying to learn for the first time at an older age.

RE: black swimmers

knelson — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 05:16:46 GMT

I always wondered what it'd be like to have swimming in gym. I had it in both junior high and high school.

RE: black swimmers

smontanaro — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 04:09:53 GMT

They brought swimming back into the school curriculum, making it mandatory. I think it's a good idea. I agree. It's also quite rare for a school district to add anything these days. S

RE: black swimmers

mjtyson — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 04:04:57 GMT

Do you recall how they tackled this problem? Did they add swim classes back into the school curriculum or offer more summertime learn-to-swim classes, or something else? S They brought swimming back into the school curriculum, making it mandatory. I think it's a good idea.

RE: black swimmers

smontanaro — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 02:59:04 GMT

I remember hearing on public radio many years ago a story about a county whose incidents of drowning grew huge over the years. Thing was, the county had stopped requiring swimming classes in the elementary schools, and the drownings increased as the required classes ceased. The county finally recognized this and the drowning rate went down. Do you recall how they tackled this problem? Did they add swim classes back into the school curriculum or offer more summertime learn-to-swim classes, or something else? S

RE: black swimmers

mjtyson — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 02:47:33 GMT

RE: black swimmers

Former Member — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 12:21:51 GMT

It's true segregation has led to many "white" sports having no black people represented. How can a tradition take off in a culture that has no access to clean pools?

RE: black swimmers

Former Member — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 15:58:18 GMT

Good story. I always dread the stories on every warm holiday in which one or more people drown at local lakes. I have often thought that it would be great if the local high school or USAS teams could sponsor a weekend program to at least try to drown proof some of the kids who would not otherwise have access to lessons. Maybe Masters teams could do something similar for adults. Sadly we just had drowning at a local pond where the bottom drops from four feet to eighteen feet without any warning. The victim was from the city and was a non swimmer. Having grown up in the borough of the Bronx we had very few kids in the area who had access to pools and in my opinion it was due largely because of economic reasons. Inner city youth have limited resources and their only outlet is either on the courts or on the field. That said Cullen Jones has made it a mission to expose as many kids as possible to the water and give them a leg up on the basics. (By the way Anthony Ervin is also African American and he too is involved as a youth advocate for the sport.) Not sure if anyone noticed the 100 free finals at our recent Olympic Trials but Lia Neal (of NYC and AGUA) who just turned seventeen, made the team for the 4 x 100 relay. She came in fourth just ahead of Natalie Coughlin. At 13 years old she smashed the national record in the 100 meter free which stood for 23 years...along with a new 50 meter free record (25.8). www.nytimes.com/.../us-olympic-swimming-trials-lia-neal-reflects-teams-diversity.html sportsillustrated.cnn.com/.../content.13.html

RE: black swimmers

no200fly — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 11:28:20 GMT

Just saw a story in the Seattle Times written by someone in their 30s who finally took the plunge and learned to swim: seattletimes.nwsource.com/.../2018589756_pacificpswimming15.html It's always inspiring to hear about someone learning to swim as an adult. I'm sure it's terrifying and embarrassing, but--hopefully--ultimately exhilarating and empowering! Good story. I always dread the stories on every warm holiday in which one or more people drown at local lakes. I have often thought that it would be great if the local high school or USAS teams could sponsor a weekend program to at least try to drown proof some of the kids who would not otherwise have access to lessons. Maybe Masters teams could do something similar for adults.

RE: black swimmers

knelson — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 04:40:43 GMT