Here are some grim statistics:

Nine people drown every day.

Six out of ten black children can’t swim.  That’s more than twice the number of their white counterparts.

The cycle continues: children from non-swimming households are more than 8 times more likely to be at-risk for drowning than those from swimming households.

Another wrinkle:  Whereas 1/3 white children from non-swimming households go on to learn to swim, the statistic for black children is only 1/10.

USA Swimming has created an initiative to address this problem. The Make a Splash iniative addresses the minority drowning problem by:

1. Educating parents

2. joining with grass roots learn to swim programs

3. funding free or low cost learn to swim programs

When the USA swim teams produces one black Olympic swimmer every 4 years, people cry foul. But here they are doing something way more significant–saving lives.  It’s pragmatic, too.  More black kids learning to swim can translate into more elite swimmers in the long run.

For more information, go to USA swimming.

Ok, so I’m late to weigh in on this matter.  I had heard whispers about it after the fact, but I don’t read or listen to much news, so I haven’t paid any attention to this incident.  But when I looked up another national Black swimmer, I found an article that linked the two.

And this is a mess. So a day camp paid to have swimming as part of its camp.  Check.  Happens everyday.  The kids show up to swim on June 29th and people at the swim club are wondering where all the black kids came from. Next thing they know, the swimming contract is canceled.  Their money was returned.

It sounded racist, especially with what the children reported hearing at the club. The club countered with saying it was a crowded pool issue, and they had canceled two other groups as well.  But when they used phrases like, “it changed the complexion and atmosphere of our club,” it’s hard to see it as anything but racism. Now the club is facing a law suit and a federal investigation, citing a violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

I want to talk about turning black drowning statistics around. This problem could be solved if all black children learn to swim. From personal experience, I know that takes time.  It could cost money for swim lessons, but it doesn’t have to. If you have access to a pool, you just spend time in it, working on swimming, and you’ll learn.  I’ve been going to my friend’s pool for the past 9 summers, and I’ve watched all of her young neighbors learn to swim that way. Of all the reasons preventing black children from learning to swim, pool access should be the easiest to overcome.  It was a civil right gained many years ago.

That’s why this Philadelphia incident is so heartbreaking.  This summer program was trying to do its part to get the kids in the water and used to the water, and some of those children could have learned to swim this summer.  But because the regular club patrons didn’t want to swim with black children, that’s not going to happen.

I am glad to hear that Tyler Perry has the resources to erase the sting in those children’s minds, but the issue of time spent in the pool, which does add up to learning to swim, has not been addressed. Perry is quoted as saying that a trip to Disney World is better than the pool. Well, it’s apples and oranges.  Yes, it would be an amazing experience for the children.  But it is not the same as the children learning to swim, and being able to save themselves if they find themselves in deep water.

I don’t blame the day camp for rejecting the club’s later invitation to come back.  They shouldn’t have to put up with that garbage. I just hope they find another pool for their children to learn to swim.

Make no mistake, swimming is not the villain here; the Valley Swim Club in Philadelphia is.

Last year at this time, this blog was downright obsessed with Cullen Jones.  He was my great black hope for the Summer Olympics.  In the end, he brought home a gold medal for the 4×100 meter free relay.  It was a very exciting race, won by eight one-hundredths of a second.

And though I was disappointed that that was the only race that Cullen had qualified for, and he swam the slowest lap of the race, he did contribute to a gold medal victory in Beijing.

What’s he up to these days?

He has an endorsement deal with Nike, for one.  He’s also on the speaking circuit.

But the coolest thing Cullen Jones is about is encouraging other young swimmers.  Especially young black swimmers.  The pool where he once swam as an isolated black swimmer has seen an influx of students since the 2008 Olympics.

Cullen is determined to turn the black drowning statistic around.  A recent USA swimming study found that 58 percent of black children can’t swim. But he is an excellent example of turning that statistic on its ear.  He almost drowned at 5.  Then his mother signed him up for swimming lessons.  He didn’t just quit at learning how to swim.  He took his sport through college, to the Olympics, and now to professional role model.

He is working on a swim documentary that includes his trip to Beijing.  Be on the lookout for more good things from Cullen Jones.

I once told my husband that if he got me a pool, I’d never get dressed all summer long.  I imagined resort life, with swim suits, a coverup the closest thing to clothing.  I might even wear flip-flops. . He said, “You have a pool in your future.”

Until then, I like to visit people who have pools.  In my informal survey, I know five black families with pools.  A recuring theme of pool ownership is maintainance.  One family kept their pool closed as long as the husband worked out of town.  Nobody else in the family could maintain the pool.  Another family I know just got their house with pool.  The pool sat un-used for many years, and the family has yet to uncover, clean, and fill the pool.

Another family uses their pool, and they’re very generous with it.  The woman of the house is a grandmother, and a retired Jr. High principal.  She is able to host all the neighborhood children as well as her grandchildren.  I love how her children have bucked the black non-swimming trend, and have passed swimming on to their children as well.

One of my daughter’s friends has a pool, but we haven’t seen it yet, so I can’t speak about their pool-keeping habits.

But I can talk about my soon to be sister-in-law.  She has a pool which has been a lot of trouble for her.  She has had to find leaks, plug drains, and prune trees in order to use her pool.  She had thought about filling it in, it was so much trouble, but that would have cost more than fixing it. Now she has my brother, a fish and swim geek like myself, to help with the maintainance.  And she is very generous with her pool as well, offering its use even when she’s not home.  I haven’t tried it out yet.

So what am I waiting for?

For one, this has been a crazy cold summer.  As I type, it is 60 degrees in July.  Outrageous.  And when it’s been hot enough to swim, I’ve been busy doing other things.  But, as my brother pointed out when I spoke to him yesterday, “there are sure to be a few more warm days this summer.”

Poor neglected swim blog.  I didn’t get in the pool last week, so I haven’t been here in a while.

But today I made sure I went swimming.  I even turned on my watch alarm for 5 AM.  Which got me in the pool by 6:03.  I dawdle like that.

I have recently found myself in a pit of despair.  As I’ve elaborated on my other blog, the baby I hoped to cuddle in January is no more.  I can’t help but worry myself to death with what I did wrong to make the baby stop developing, but in the meantime, I will be working out.

It felt great to be in the water.  My fatigue is subsiding, thankfully along with the nausea, and I definitely appreciated that in the water.  It felt so good to swim the 100 IM!  I glided through the water on that final length, incredulous that I was actually swimming the freestyle so smoothly.  My time was 2:58.89–not much to write home about, but it was faster and easier than the last time I’d swum.

Then, I got hit by this strong bathroom urge.  I couldn’t believe it.  I thought about getting out of the pool after just swimming 500.  I plan to ride bikes with a friend later, so I guess I could afford to get out of the pool early.

I plan to return either Friday or Saturday.  And maybe do the bathroom BEFORE getting in the water.

I went swimming today!  This is the first weekday in two weeks that I have made it to the pool, so that is good news.

I am not still rehabilitating a bike body, but I didn’t swim a mile today.  I succumbed to early pregnancy fatigue and just swam 900 yards, or a half mile today.

I feel like a total wimp for cutting my yardage, but I decided to give myself some grace.  This fatigue won’t be here forever.  I timed my one IM, which I intentionally swam slowly.  It was 3:00.16.  I haven’t swum it this slow in forever, and that time almost had me try to swim it fast a second time, but I didn’t.

I am looking forward to the passing of the fatigue period.  Then I can complain about round ligament pain, I’m sure.  Ah, the joys of pregnancy!