And the ESPY goes to....

Here's a suggestion, but it's not original... it should be state-mandated that all kids in elementary school learn how to swim, then from there it would be the moderators' responsibilities to encourage those with even an inkling of potential to try and make the next step towards swimming competitively. Learn to swim programs are dropping off the face of the earth. They used to be school funded, now they have to be paid for by the participants. When that happened, it severly limited the amount of people that would be exposed to true swimming during their developmental years. That type of program should be reinstated. And here's another that kind of goes along with that... I used to lap swim in a city park that had a 50mx25y pool. The recreational half of the pool was swarmed with kids who loved the water, many were minorities. Some used to even venture over to the lap side and swim on occasion just to try it out. One little girl, probably 8 saw a guy in the lane next to me with a kickboard and asked her older brother for one. He got her one, the lifeguard came over and said "You can't play in that pool." How nice is that?!?! So she imitated the older guy and kicked with the board for about 6 lengths. I'm surprised she even bothered after being yelled at. That's a kid who should be encouraged. But anyway, the club that works out there costs about $80/month to belong. Do you think those city kids can afford that? There is a perfect opportunity for a city-sponsored club team with a nominal fee, where the city could pay for coaches, equipment, and pool time is free (a city-owned park). Think of what could be done by opening up the sport to another 200-300 kids that could otherwise not have afforded it. And that's just one city. Where's the initiative to do this? Is USA-S going to do something like this? The sport has to be built from the ground up. Recruiting more participation at USMS meets is a reactive measure. Being sure that we have a swimming-conscious nation from the elementary years is a proactive measure. I estimate it would cost a city between 75 and 100K to run a city-sponsored club. That would pay for coach salaries, assistant wages, pool equipment, swim suits, caps, goggles, meet entry fees for the swimmers. The swimmers in return maybe pay $10/month to belong. Not much but enough that if they pay it, they'll stick with it. And they should be assured that every part of their $10 is used in return for them. In a city with 120,000 taxpayers, this is less than a dollar a year to support a worthwile program. It's not as if I have said Ion's ideas are horrible and left it at that, I have given reasoning behind why they won't work. That's kind of a negative approach (but dad - he started it! :rolleyes: ) but it will be difficult to create a general interest in swimming among the American population unless that American population is immersed in the sport. That's why it's popular in Australia. We in the US are immersed in LL Baseball, hence MLB on TV every night. Oh well. -RM

Here's a suggestion, but it's not original... it should be state-mandated that all kids in elementary school learn how to swim, then from there it would be the moderators' responsibilities to encourage those with even an inkling of potential to try and make the next step towards swimming competitively. Learn to swim programs are dropping off the face of the earth. They used to be school funded, now they have to be paid for by the participants. When that happened, it severly limited the amount of people that would be exposed to true swimming during their developmental years. That type of program should be reinstated. And here's another that kind of goes along with that... I used to lap swim in a city park that had a 50mx25y pool. The recreational half of the pool was swarmed with kids who loved the water, many were minorities. Some used to even venture over to the lap side and swim on occasion just to try it out. One little girl, probably 8 saw a guy in the lane next to me with a kickboard and asked her older brother for one. He got her one, the lifeguard came over and said "You can't play in that pool." How nice is that?!?! So she imitated the older guy and kicked with the board for about 6 lengths. I'm surprised she even bothered after being yelled at. That's a kid who should be encouraged. But anyway, the club that works out there costs about $80/month to belong. Do you think those city kids can afford that? There is a perfect opportunity for a city-sponsored club team with a nominal fee, where the city could pay for coaches, equipment, and pool time is free (a city-owned park). Think of what could be done by opening up the sport to another 200-300 kids that could otherwise not have afforded it. And that's just one city. Where's the initiative to do this? Is USA-S going to do something like this? The sport has to be built from the ground up. Recruiting more participation at USMS meets is a reactive measure. Being sure that we have a swimming-conscious nation from the elementary years is a proactive measure. I estimate it would cost a city between 75 and 100K to run a city-sponsored club. That would pay for coach salaries, assistant wages, pool equipment, swim suits, caps, goggles, meet entry fees for the swimmers. The swimmers in return maybe pay $10/month to belong. Not much but enough that if they pay it, they'll stick with it. And they should be assured that every part of their $10 is used in return for them. In a city with 120,000 taxpayers, this is less than a dollar a year to support a worthwile program. It's not as if I have said Ion's ideas are horrible and left it at that, I have given reasoning behind why they won't work. That's kind of a negative approach (but dad - he started it! :rolleyes: ) but it will be difficult to create a general interest in swimming among the American population unless that American population is immersed in the sport. That's why it's popular in Australia. We in the US are immersed in LL Baseball, hence MLB on TV every night. Oh well. -RM