the only people i know that had swimming lessons, were on the swim team at school... but they already knew how to swim
Posted on 04/07/2012 2:43:19 PM PDT by the scotsman
'A month ago, six African-American teenagers drowned in a single incident in Louisiana, prompting soul-searching about why so many young black Americans can't swim.
When 15-year-old DeKendrix Warner accidentally stepped into deeper water while wading in the Red River in Shreveport, he panicked.
JaTavious Warner, 17, Takeitha Warner, 13, JaMarcus Warner, 14, Litrelle Stewart, 18, Latevin Stewart, 15, and LaDarius Stewart, 17, rushed to help him and each other.
None of them could swim. All six drowned. DeKendrix was rescued by a passer-by.
Maude Warner, mother of three of the victims, and the other adults present also couldn't swim.
The US has almost 3,500 accidental drownings every year, almost 10 a day. But according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the fatal drowning rate of African-American children aged five-14 is three times that of white children.
A recent study sponsored by USA Swimming uncovered equally stark statistics. Just under 70% of African-American children surveyed said they had no or low ability to swim. Low ability merely meant they were able to splash around in the shallow end. A further 12% said they could swim but had "taught themselves".
The study found 58% of Hispanic children had no or low swimming ability. For white children, the figure was only 42%.
"It is an epidemic that is almost going unnoticed," says Sue Anderson, director of programmes and services at USA Swimming.
The swimming body would like all children to be taught to swim.
"We would like it to be like seatbelts and bicycle helmets," says Ms Anderson.
But the situation in the US can vary hugely even within a single state.'
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Sorry, but to me that smacks of the liberal attitude that blacks are incapable of taking care of themselves, making their own decisions, and so WE have to take them in hand and do something for them.
My local Y had some kind of outreach program to urge blacks to learn to swim. Why? They know they'll drown if they go in the water without knowing how. But shouldn't they be able to choose whether they learn? They KNOW swimming lessons exist and apparently choose not to take advantage of them. Their choice.
White devil is responsible.
Yes. Happens all the time now.
Some people just panic.
He pointed out that blacks have a heavier/denser skeletal frame so that they don't get injured as much running, etc. However, (now he didn't say that but I came to the conclusion) that would make them heavier in the water. There are very few Olympic swimmers that are black. (This man didn't just focus on blacks, he went into the physical frames of, say, Asians and how they are basically made for gymnastics and diving --- stuff like that.
I found it interesting because he was looking at the differences in the physical bodies of different ethnic groups and how that affected which sports they were good at. Of course, it was immediately called "rascist" and the man became a pariah. Such sillines.
It may simply also be a case that minority parents just don't see this as a priority for their children where, whites do. Maybe the parents just need to be educated in how important it is for the child to be able to swim, even just a little.
Swimming was invented by the black Egyptians, but then it was stolen from them by the Greeks and the Romans.
the only people i know that had swimming lessons, were on the swim team at school... but they already knew how to swim
Most of swimming is learning to relax.
I never thought of that. Black people don't shower and shampoo as often as white people because they don't HAVE to. Black African skin doesn't excrete as much oil as White European skin. If Black people shower and shampoo as often as White people do their skin dries out and gets itchy. We had a young Black woman living in our home for a while and this is what she told us. (And yes, she was meticulously clean.)
Anyway, it makes sense that if a person doesn't have to stick his head under water every day like I do he might not be as comfortable with water on his face.
Well, I guess that's it......Moochelle will make "pool deserts" her next project.
I learned in the shower how to to swim upstream against a strong current.
My late father told me his first swimming lesson was his uncle taking him to the deep end and throwing him in, while he shouted, SWIM!
As it happens, my father taught me to ride a bike by putting me on one, pushed me down the drive and yelled PEDAL!
I was taking swimming class at a local pool and the instructor tested us for buoyancy. The one black guy in the class went right under.
I don’t know about swimming, but when I played high school baseball, the teams from the inner-city schools didn’t wear baseball caps, they wore shower caps - to protect their hairdos and Jerry-curls.
Speaking in generalities (there are always exceptions), Blacks do have a denser bone and muscle structure than those of European ancestry. Quite some time back in another career, I was a swimming instructor at the Recruit Training Pool at Parris Island. Every Marine recruit went in the water. Those who could not swim got a couple of days of instruction before testing. As one who was in the water with them, and sometimes going to the bottom to retrieve them, a far higher percentage of Blacks than Whites simply did not have positive buoyancy.
That does not mean they cannot learn to swim, only that it’s a tougher process. BTW, the second fastest swimmer among the instructors was Black, but even he could not float without arm and leg movement. (Modesty prevents me from identifying the fastest swimmer).
Bicycle = $60.00
Swimsuit = $10.00
Life time investment = $70.00
Pool?
I learned in the Ohio River.
Bicycle = $60.00
Swimsuit = $10.00
Life time investment = $70.00
I remember freezing my little four year old butt off taking swim lessons in an outdoor pool in May, myself.
If you can’t swim, stay out of the water and certainly don’t go out on a fishing boat drunk at night.
That’s by far and away the greatest source of drowning deaths locally. Drunk fishermen, one topples in, and possibly even drowns another trying to save him. Neither are found until daybreak. A good ten or twenty of those every year.
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