
Last week the Wall Street Journal ran an article about the frightening number of kids who still don't know how to swim. Citing research contained in a report released by USA Swimming, the
WSJ reported that "70% of African-American children and 58% of Hispanic children have little or no swimming ability, compared with 40% of Caucasian children." These numbers have consequences. African-American kids drown three times as often as their Caucasian counterparts, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and in swimming pools drown five times as often.
From USA Swimming's The Constraints Impacting Minority Swimming Participation, Phase II study: “The ‘fear of drowning’ was found to be the strongest overall predictor of swimming inability among the variables under investigation.”
While the study revealed children from lower income families were more inclined to agree that “family budget doesn’t include money for me to take swim lessons,” focus group research found that many parents wouldn’t let kids swim even if lessons were free, a theme that was tested four times in different focus groups. Overall, fear trumped financial concerns across all respondent race groups in low-income families.
According to a mother who participated in a Denver focus group, “You’re already uncomfortable and scared. You’re like, ‘I‘m paying them so I can have heart palpitations on the side-lines. It’s not worth it. It really isn’t. Why should I have to pay money to be afraid?”
The WSJ article cites Dr. Richard Irwin of the University of Memphis, who claims that some African-American and Latino parents are so afraid of letting their children near water that they will not let them take swimming lessons even when cost isn’t a barrier.
The USA Swimming Foundation's Make A Splash initiative was created to address such concerns. The initiative's national awareness campaign makes an effort to educate parents about swimming, and it also coordinates with learn-to-swim programs nationwide to get more kids into pools. Said Chris LaBianco, Chief Development Officer of the USA Swimming Foundation, “The findings from this study reinforce the importance of raising awareness about learning to swim as a life-saving skill."
In Los Angeles, such an effort has been underway for quite some time.
“For the past 24 years the LA84 Foundation has partnered with Los Angels City Recreation and Parks and County of Los Angeles Parks and Recreation as well as several other municipalities to offer a free learn to swim program,” according to Patrick Escobar, Vice President of Grants and Programs at the LA84 Foundation. Regarding reports of African-American and Latino parents’ reluctance to provide free swimming lessons for their children, Escobar said, “There may be some parents like that, but we have never had a problem filling our programs. We work exclusively at public pools in Los Angeles County. Every year 9,000 kids take part in our program and 90 percent of them are Latino or African-American."
“Water safety is our first concern,” added Escobar, “but what is really interesting is how many youngsters, with the encouragement of their parents, have gone on to participate in the Foundation's water polo, diving and synchronized swimming programs.”