I remember P Mulins the author maybe I missed spelled his name talking about swimming being a white upper-middle class sport and the country club set. I guess he had not met Shirley Bashashoff that came from a blue collar background. Anyway, swimmers in elite circles tend to be more from upper-middle families than the non-elite. In high school programs, their are plenty of them from the barrio and the ghetto. Also, he seems to think swimming is divided between whites and blacks. In his state, both Latinos and Asians outnumber blacks. And Latinos are the group lowest on the income level in that state and Arizona mainly done to immirgation. I think the swimming world is seeing that in the states, its not a black and white world anymore,even in the south asians and latins have increase.
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Originally posted by laineybug
Everyone is an individual, but there are groups out there that have things in common. These groups are under represented in our sport. If we want to reach those groups then we need to understand how we are failing now.
Maybe certain groups also have sports preferences.
Are they under-represented in certain sports because there is no access to facilities, or are they under represented because of the "image" that sport has within the demographics.
Also, getting good at some sports (like football) has a potential of a huge payoff. Payoff in swimming is... well, not the same as in football or basketball, to say the least.
Building more pools in certain areas is not always likely to get more people, or kids to swim. The image that particular sport has within the familial, social, cultural and economic undercurrents of a specific demographics is what will make it popular or not popular. That old..."You can lead a horse to the water, but you can't make it... swim"
If you want more people swimming in the elites, and in general, find a way to make it into a more of a spectator sport, and you'll have all the money you want, on all levels.
In the meantime, it's going to remain the 'upper class-as you guys are calling it' athletic sport for those who can afford to participate in it.
In my case, having come from a different country and culture ... Croatia-Mediterranean, there was a very different image to swimming. Had almost nothing to do with the economic element.
For a very small country (5 mil), Croatia has enjoyed a decent success in swimming and waterpolo at the elite levels.
I'd venture a guess, that much like in australia, the ratio of the length of the coast to the population had a little something to do with the country's ability to produce the elite.
It's when you don't have the natural resources that you need to pour extra money into the facilities.
So, I can see it much more costly to produce elite swimmers out of a land-locked, cool weather place like Minesota or Wyoming, then it would be on a mediterranean coast.
I'd expect people from minesota to excell in sports that are more incidental to the natural resources available to them.
As for Ausatralia, it is my understanding that most of the country's population is concentrated in coastal areas, so... no big surprize that they crank out good swimmers.
Originally posted by laineybug
Everyone is an individual, but there are groups out there that have things in common. These groups are under represented in our sport. If we want to reach those groups then we need to understand how we are failing now.
Maybe certain groups also have sports preferences.
Are they under-represented in certain sports because there is no access to facilities, or are they under represented because of the "image" that sport has within the demographics.
Also, getting good at some sports (like football) has a potential of a huge payoff. Payoff in swimming is... well, not the same as in football or basketball, to say the least.
Building more pools in certain areas is not always likely to get more people, or kids to swim. The image that particular sport has within the familial, social, cultural and economic undercurrents of a specific demographics is what will make it popular or not popular. That old..."You can lead a horse to the water, but you can't make it... swim"
If you want more people swimming in the elites, and in general, find a way to make it into a more of a spectator sport, and you'll have all the money you want, on all levels.
In the meantime, it's going to remain the 'upper class-as you guys are calling it' athletic sport for those who can afford to participate in it.
In my case, having come from a different country and culture ... Croatia-Mediterranean, there was a very different image to swimming. Had almost nothing to do with the economic element.
For a very small country (5 mil), Croatia has enjoyed a decent success in swimming and waterpolo at the elite levels.
I'd venture a guess, that much like in australia, the ratio of the length of the coast to the population had a little something to do with the country's ability to produce the elite.
It's when you don't have the natural resources that you need to pour extra money into the facilities.
So, I can see it much more costly to produce elite swimmers out of a land-locked, cool weather place like Minesota or Wyoming, then it would be on a mediterranean coast.
I'd expect people from minesota to excell in sports that are more incidental to the natural resources available to them.
As for Ausatralia, it is my understanding that most of the country's population is concentrated in coastal areas, so... no big surprize that they crank out good swimmers.
