I’m not surprised. We’re trying to teach our two (white) seven-year-olds how to swim and it does NOT seem to come naturally for them! I anticipate quite a few lessons before it really kicks in, and those lessons take money . . . and inner-city blacks especially are less likely to have the money to keep enrolling the kids in swim class. If you live somewhere close to a free or natural place to swim, such as a safe pond, swimming is free. Otherwise it’s fairly pricey these days.
That is because 7 is way too old. Start at under 1 yr. old and no lessons are even necessary.
purchase them each a cheep set of flippers.
It will teach them quickly to kick their feet thus enabling them to swim.
Honest.
Not only that, there are low cost day camps that bring the kids to a pool for a few hours a couple of times a week. There are at least two by us - one is subsidized by United Way, the other by the federal government. The problem is the camp counselors are high school and college kids who spend all their time sitting in the shade flirting with each other. And there aren't enough of them to go around even if they were paying attention. We switched pools ones they started bussing in these day camp kids. They're not bad kids, but nobody's watching them.
A few years ago, a pool in nearby Bucks County tried to get rid of the day camp they'd contracted with for the summer and they were accused of being racists. In my heart, I don't believe it was racist. It was just too many unmonitored kids in a small area.
When I was 5 my parents took me up to camp in Maine and wanted me to start there 2 years younger than the normal starting age for campers (a relative owned the camp). They basically dropped me into the lake and said that if I could swim to the end of the dock that I could stay. I did, so I stayed (had to be in the youngest cabin for 3 summers until I was old enough to start advancing to the next cabin with the others).
Our local YMCA has a swim program. If families don’t have enough $$, it is free for them. They advertise this all the time. I suspect the city I live in does the same thing, for residents the local pool is $1 and there is a large learn-to-swim- program there too.