It’s been almost a month since a severe drowning tragedy in Louisiana. On August 3rd, 7 teens playing in the water at a Shreveport, LA park fell into a sinkhole. Each non-swimming teen tried to save another, all drowned but 1. Even more horrific: the children who drowned were siblings from 2 different families. And the most horrific? Their parents watched helpless, as the children screamed, “help me!”–because none of the adults could swim, either.

I don’t know what else it will take to get people in the water to learn how to save themselves; others! This makes me think of Wanda Butts. That poor woman lost her son, and then had the strength to start a foundation in his name, The Josh Project, so nobody else would have to lose their child to drowning. But children are drowning daily. What will it take to eradicate this plague? There is no small pox in America any more. This is doable. But we have to make it a priority. We have to act.

My daughter, a lifeguard, is competing in the Miss Michigan USA pageant next weekend. Her charity is the Make a Splash Foundation. She too was heartbroken when she heard this story. If she could learn to swim, with her issues about getting her face wet, extreme fear of the water, and lack of buoyancy, anyone can!

While I’m talking, I still have 2 non-swimming children. I took them down to the pool for lessons as soon as I could after hearing this story. Will you join me?

Here’s another story from our Lake Michigan trip. Of 5 little girls, 1 is a non-swimmer. The 7 year old had her first swim lesson this summer, but was afraid to get her face wet. Her mother had her do a few bobs in the lake, then she watched my 8 year old doing streamlines and kicking. She told her daughter to do that, and she got the hang of it! She started streamlining, and trying everything else the little fish girls were doing. She wanted to stay in the water, splashing and playing like she was born again. It is so exciting when swimming clicks for someone!

I’ve been threatening to take the kids to my sister-in-law’s pool for weeks. Turns out, the pool wasn’t ready for us until the 4th, when they invited us for a pool party. It was right on time, as the weather was to be 90 degrees and humid.

The temperature didn’t disappoint, and all 6 kids were happy to jump in. I have different levels of swimmers, so it is challenging to watch them all. My lifeguard certified daughter had just gotten her hair done, so she didn’t swim, but got wet, took care of her younger non-swimming siblings, and pined for actual swimming. I got a kick out of this, as she tries to pretend that she doesn’t like to swim. I didn’t say, “I knew you liked swimming!” or anything else snotty. I just made a mental note of it.

My 15 year old son is another one who pretends to hate swimming, but I noticed how he did cannonballs, critiqued his little sisters’ swimming, and challenged them to races. It was a delight to watch him swim again–this time as a big boy. He swam competitively from the age of 8 until 11.

The little girls, who took swimming lessons from the age of 3 until 6 and 4, surprised me, especially the 8 year old. She has had fewer swim lessons, and never really learned any stroke, but she is very competitive and athletic. This is my only child who wants to do a triathlon (like her mother!). But she doesn’t swim well enough to do one this summer. My older son is the only child that could compete in the YMCA child’s triathlon this year, and he is completely uninterested. I digress. When my 8 year old heard that she wasn’t ready for the swim portion of a triathlon, she knew she wanted to practice in a pool. She was so excited to get her chance.

She was jumping off the diving board, racing her 10 year old sister, and beating her, despite the fact that the 8 year old had to hold on to the side of the pool in order to breathe. She doesn’t know rotary breathing or true freestyle yet, but she was pulling like a freestyle and swimming underwater for long periods of time before needing a breath. We may make a swimmer of her yet!

The littlest children, who are non-swimmers, were very enthusiastic as well. They splashed around with various flotation devices, both children wanting desperately to learn how to swim. The 2 year old could paddle around with her butterfly cube and floaties. Her 6 year old brother preferred sitting in floating chairs and using two noodles. I will be glad to count him among the swimmers! I better sign them up for lessons this summer. It’s not fun trying to keep the non-swimmers out of the pool!

If you have more photographic proof, post it on Diversity in Aquatics. They’re busting that blacks don’t swim myth.

So we were invited to a birthday party today. It was an outdoor party, held at a camp. I knew they were going to swim, but with basketball, archery, and other activities, I didn’t expect to find anyone in the water for long. We were running late, I didn’t have my teenage helpers, I had just gotten my hair done, so I’d decided my kids wouldn’t swim.

Easier said than done. All the other kids were splashing around in the water. My children were soon discontent with just wading. The baby waded in up to her butt almost immediately and got her pants all wet. I stayed firm about her. If I couldn’t take her in the water, she wasn’t going. The other kids borrowed swim suits and joined their friends. My 6 year old son put on a life jacket like all the other small children at the party. My 8 and 10 year old girls, who have had swim lessons, swam without flotation devices. That was the only swimming I saw out there.

I know the bigger boys must have done something to get out to the deep water platform; I just didn’t see them swim there. There were some College student helpers in boats, on platforms, etc. I assumed that the wet one was the lifeguard. I would have taken my daughter if she hadn’t just gotten her hair done.

I spent most of my beach time chasing my 2 year old away from the water. She would have jumped in in a hearbeat if I’d let her.

Everyone obviously loved the water, and they all had a ball. They just didn’t know how to swim. How often have you seen that? It’s like every hot day, black folks go to pools and lakes to splash around, not to swim. It’s so dangerous, even with a life jacket.

And we wonder why the drowning rate is so high. . .

It’s one thing to read about Cullen Jones being hands on with children. It’s another thing to hear of it first hand from a swim parent. It’s another thing altogether to see it for yourself. Keep on, Cullen! You are singlehandedly reversing the non-swimming trend among black people.