Olympian Cullen Jones wants to change swimming stereotype

[Blue_Tires]

Almost everywhere he goes, Olympic swimmer Cullen Jones is reminded of a tragic fate that was nearly his own.

Though he was the first African-American to set a world record in swimming and participated in the 4x100 freestyle relay with Michael Phelps and Jason Lezak that clinched a gold medal in the 2008 Games in Beijing, Jones, 25, said he isn't a natural.

In one of his first encounters with the water, Jones, then 5, nearly drowned. Now he's intent on changing this harrowing statistic: About 70 percent of African-American children have little or no ability to swim. Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2005 that fatal unintentional drowning rates for 5- to 14-year-old African-Americans are 2.6 times higher than those for Caucasians of the same ages.

Jones teamed with USA Swimming in 2008 to be part of a child-focused water safety initiative. On Tuesday, he visited the Turkey Thicket Recreation Center in Washington, the site of the June 23 drowning of 6-year-old Yiana Ballard.

"It hurts my heart to go to every different city and hear about kids drowning," Jones said. "Only two words can change that, and it's swim lessons."

An American Health Institute study showed that swim lessons could reduce the risk of drowning by up to 88 percent. The threshold for water safety, Jones said, is the ability to swim 20 meters.

With more than 250 swimming centers in 42 states, USA Swimming has provided lessons to 375,000 kids since the "Make A Splash" initiative launched in 2007.

The pools agree to give a certain percentage of their lessons free, and in turn are eligible for grants from the program. About $110,000 in grants, largely funded by ConocoPhillips, have been distributed this year.

The Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore received a $4,000 grant this year, and was able to offer two-hour lessons at its Owings Mills facility to a predominantly black community. That kind of exposure to the water, said Bill Kirkner, the aquatics director, is sufficient for basic water safety skills.



Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/07/13/2081374/olympian-cullen-jones-wants-to.html#ixzz0tevtpyul


Happy to see this as a regular (but far from world-class) swimmer myself...

[Brewman_Jax]

1. Read about that

glad to see this. :thumbsup: Lack of access, along with that Jim Crow time and short city/local budgets won't make this easy.

Read one comments section on this--looks like not much has changed. :(

[AspenRose]

2. My son is 5 and taking swim lessons this summer

He loves it :-)

But he also wanted to take them because he fancies himself becoming a search-and-rescue member of the Coast Guard someday :-)

We took him to an air show this past spring and I was so glad he got to talk with a black naval helicopter pilot..from my alma mater, even! Those kinds of positive perceptions and reinforcements are important to me. I'm sure whites here would consider that racist, but I don't expect them to understand cultural oversaturation of images of white males as firefighters, in search-and-rescue capacities, or as military helicopter pilots. My son talked to other (white) pilots too, but it is important my kids see that someone who *looks like them* can do this and succeed; therefore, they can too. Because this is not what you will typically see promoted in the media or society.

ANYWAY: I took swim lessons at the Y when I was about 10, though I had been going to the pool with my dad since I was about 4 or 5. My mom couldn't swim and was afraid of water, and I think that was her motivation to make sure I took lessons and didn't grow up in fear of the water.