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
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
...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.
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)
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.
