black swimmers

There are many black swimmers on teams all over the country but yes overall they are way out numbered by others. Swimming is a lame sport to many blacks , when all your friends have football and basketball shoes and clothes who wants to swim, and how much respect and recognition do swimmers get compared to stars in football , basketball , or boxing. Plus the money, yes a swimmer can make a million dollars with a gold medal and some more for a while then thats it, NFL and NBA stars can make a million a year plus get lifetime pensions when they retire from the sport in addition to all the endorsement money.

Too add some points other than segregation... Swimming is also very expensive compared to other sports because of the pool cost and convenience. It's not like you can't swim like you can throw a basketball or football around with your friends. Skiing and Lacrosse sports with few african americans that are expensive. Statistically speaking on average blacks are poorer than whites and may have less income to spend on expensive sports. Swimming may also be socially seen as a "white person sport" for a lack of a better term. What I'm trying to say it may just not be considered by the youth. When they look up to successful black athletes, they're all in basketball, football, baseball, track etc. So the kids will probably be more inclined to participate in sports that show success of their race and people they can relate to. When I competed in high school there were not a lot of black swimmers (I graduated in 2009). That said, Connecticut rural/suburbs don't usually have a lot of African Americans. Since you're from Italy, Connecticut is between New York and Boston. We did compete with some inner city and more ethnically diverse towns every once and a while. Connecticut's cities (Hartford, Meridan, Bridgeport, etc) are inhabited primarily by minorities and are very impoverished. CT has the highest income and education discrepancies between it's cities and towns. Even the city teams had very few black swimmers. Most of them were white or hispanic. The cities usually get a lot of funding from the state government so some of them have beautiful pools. My high school didn't have a pool and I lived in a affluent town. I too have noticed a big increase in asian, middle eastern, and asian swimmers.

As I said there are many black swimmers nationwide, someday one of these swimmers male or female will become a superstar and that will create more swimming intrest with everyone just as Tiger Woods broke into golf and became a star and he has givin the golf game a bost for all. I guess they aren't quite at Tiger Woods' level, but what about Anthony Ervin and Cullen Jones? Both have won Olympic gold medals--Ervin individually and Jones on a relay.

Interesting that hair is given as a reason many black women don't swim. A fairly recent article in Runners World addressed the issue of why running is predominantly a "white sport" in N. America; one of their conclusions had to do with hair care, too. I find it unsettling that our society puts appearance above fitness. Is hair really so important that it should stop a person from working out? It isn't just cosmesis. People can find fitness doing other things.

Ervin and Jones, which one will have silver, and the other, gold in August for the 50 fr?:cheerleader:

Ervin and Jones, which one will have silver, and the other, gold in August for the 50 fr?:cheerleader: I hope it turns out that both Ervin and Jones end up on the podium, but I am :cheerleader: for Cullen Jones to get the gold! :banana:

Interesting that hair is given as a reason many black women don't swim. A fairly recent article in Runners World addressed the issue of why running is predominantly a "white sport" in N. America; one of their conclusions had to do with hair care, too. I find it unsettling that our society puts appearance above fitness. Is hair really so important that it should stop a person from working out?

I find it unsettling that our society puts appearance above fitness. Is hair really so important that it should stop a person from working out? Agreed! It would be nice if women felt the freedom to skip all the excessive primping we've been conditioned to believe we need. Of course, I skip most of it already, but I think I'm far from the norm...

As I said there are many black swimmers nationwide, someday one of these swimmers male or female will become a superstar and that will create more swimming intrest with everyone just as Tiger Woods broke into golf and became a star and he has givin the golf game a bost for all. Um, Cullen Jones. Hello.

Um, Cullen Jones. Hello. :cheerleader: Gold in the 2008 relay, 2nd in the 100 free and 1st in the 50 free, at Olympic Trials, this year. "Hello" is right! :banana: So, Geek, what is your prediction for Cullen at the Olympics?