I'll say one thing for this magazine, interspersed between all of the hero-worship articles are some that cover subjects with real meat. In the last few issues are articles about foreign swimmers with American college scholarships, the conflict between USS and high-school swimming, eating disorders among swimmers, and (the lack of) racial diversity in the sport.
These are real issues to the sport.
Wouldn't it be nice if this group discussed some of these?
Parents
Former Member
Here's a point to consider. A choice for a swimmer to compete in high school vs. USA may be eased somewhat if there is ample pool access for all high school swimmers within a state.
The city of Louisville has only two high school competition pools in the entire county school system. One of these is closing soon. However, my understanding is that Indiana, our neighbor across the mighty Ohio River, has a competition pool on every public high school campus within the state. Pool training in Indiana takes on the same characteristics as football or b-ball training--it can be done right there on campus. Presumably, each school has its own coach and its own swim program.
Kentucky public school students don't have to face the USA/high school participation choice, but Indiana students do. Kentucky students have to find their way from school to a pool across town or nearby to train. Coaches at these pools are chiefly USA club coaches, and they may have members from several high schools on their teams. Coaches and pools are shared by public high school students in Kentucky during the high school competition season.
This distinction may underlie the establishment (or not) of exclusionary rules from state to state. Or, it may have nothing to do with it. But it seems to me that where exclusionary rules exist, high school programs have to accommodate the needs of competitors 100%, and that appears not to have been the case with Leo's daughter. A new student recently transferred from an Indiana residence to Louisville, and a new member on my son's high school swim team told me this weekend that he liked the rules in Kentucky much better.
One more point about that school which is closing soon here in town. You guessed it, it sits right smack in the middle of an area with the highest concentration of African Americans. During the high school regionals this last weekend, I could count on one hand the number of non-white participants out the several hundred who went off the blocks. Only one appeared the next day in finals. I see this as a failure of leadership rising out of weak perception of what it means to live in a diverse community.
Here's a point to consider. A choice for a swimmer to compete in high school vs. USA may be eased somewhat if there is ample pool access for all high school swimmers within a state.
The city of Louisville has only two high school competition pools in the entire county school system. One of these is closing soon. However, my understanding is that Indiana, our neighbor across the mighty Ohio River, has a competition pool on every public high school campus within the state. Pool training in Indiana takes on the same characteristics as football or b-ball training--it can be done right there on campus. Presumably, each school has its own coach and its own swim program.
Kentucky public school students don't have to face the USA/high school participation choice, but Indiana students do. Kentucky students have to find their way from school to a pool across town or nearby to train. Coaches at these pools are chiefly USA club coaches, and they may have members from several high schools on their teams. Coaches and pools are shared by public high school students in Kentucky during the high school competition season.
This distinction may underlie the establishment (or not) of exclusionary rules from state to state. Or, it may have nothing to do with it. But it seems to me that where exclusionary rules exist, high school programs have to accommodate the needs of competitors 100%, and that appears not to have been the case with Leo's daughter. A new student recently transferred from an Indiana residence to Louisville, and a new member on my son's high school swim team told me this weekend that he liked the rules in Kentucky much better.
One more point about that school which is closing soon here in town. You guessed it, it sits right smack in the middle of an area with the highest concentration of African Americans. During the high school regionals this last weekend, I could count on one hand the number of non-white participants out the several hundred who went off the blocks. Only one appeared the next day in finals. I see this as a failure of leadership rising out of weak perception of what it means to live in a diverse community.
