The forum on diversity in aquatics continues. Here are some great quotes:

“If the Africans knew how to swim when they came to the Americas, slavery would have ended before it got started.” –

“Man, we don’t need to swim we play basketball, football and even golf and tennis now!” and my reply is always the same, ‘Ah yes that’s true. But – to the best of my knowledge – I’ve never heard of anyone dyng because they couldn’t dunk, catch a sideline route pass, shoot three under par, or volley at the net.’

I just didn’t see swimming as that deep until Naji, open water swimmer, put it like that.

Another forum gave a creepy face to the drowning rate. Statistics are one thing; pictures of victims are a whole different thing. AK relates images that probably still haunt her—images of drowning victims in various pools she’s used.

The victims’ stories are eerily the same. The pool was closed or off limits. The kids snuck in to have some fun. They couldn’t swim, and neither could their friends. They drowned and couldn’t be revived.

Suddenly, swimming morphs from an athletic option to a life or death scenario. Naji says it should start there. That swimming is first and foremost a lifesaving proposal. After you get to the point where you can save your life, then you can talk about swimming as sport.

My husband found the piece that connects the puzzle: swim teams train you to be proficient enough to be safe in the water. If you want your child to know how to be safe enough to save themselves in the water, I suggest you sign them up for a swim team. You don’t have to already know how to swim—that’s a myth. The coaches can teach the swimming.

You supply the heart.