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.