True Confession: I Don't Know How To Swim
I hate to admit this, but no, I do not know how to swim.
It troubles me terribly because the moment I tell someone that, I instantly feel like a stereotype - and rightfully so.
I recently read an article on TheBrooklynInk.com website where it was reported that "58 percent of African-American children cannot swim — more than double the percentage of white children."
Black folks not knowing how to swim has been a running gag and the butt of jokes for many years. But it's not always a laughing matter.
In the same article, The Brooklyn Ink spoke with Lee Pitts, a Black swim instructor. He said many lives could have been saved during Hurricane Katrina if more African-Americans knew how to swim. “If they had some advanced swimming skills, just a basic dog paddle, they could have survived,” he said, “Just enough to get to safety”.
Pretty unsettling, right?
Natural disasters aside, I can think of several other instances when average swimming skills would come in handy. I've gone parasailing. Set sail on several boat rides and booze cruises. Flown across large bodies of water. Anything could happen. God forbid that my plane goes down over the ocean. It would be a crying shame to survive the impact only to die from drowning.
As much as I hate excuses, I do have two that may help explain why I'm aquatically challenged.
1) When I was six-years-old, I was at a family barbecue playing in the pool with the other kids when someone (an actual adult) grabbed me by the back of my neck, dunked me under the water and held me there for what felt like forever. 'Twas quite traumatic. I've been terrified of the water ever since.
2) Vanity. Um. I'm not snatched enough to be at anybody's pool, shirtless, trying to learn how to swim. There. I said it. I went IN this winter: midnight snacks, after work light-skinned Oreos, early morning Belgium waffles. The works! This lil' muffin top, while currently under construction, is still quite prevalent and not to be seen until it's a distant memory and I'm ready to do an official unveiling.
And the thing is, I should know how to swim. I had to pass two mandatory swimming classes in order to graduate from junior high school. How I managed to get A's and still come out scared to put my face in the water is beyond me. And my own mother even knows how to swim! Studies show that when the parents are swimmers, typically, so are the children. Hmph. Lies!
Want to know the worst part about my watery apprehensions? The avid swimmers and their condescending nature when they find out I'm prone to drown. They instantly classify me as some mundane, unwordly raggamuffin whose never been within 100 feet of a large body of water. Ugh.
I can't wait to be one of those people! O__O
I remember how my Granny used to always get on me about not knowing how to swim. She would give me her infamous wagging finger of shame and tell me about how her brother tossed her into The Chesapeake Bay one afternoon, and that's how she learned how to swim.
See. No. That's not going to work for me. I'd drown right there on the spot. Don't do that.
But after lots of prayer and counsel, I've decided that this year I'm going to face my fears and learn how to swim. I'm tired of just lounging by the pool or simply frolicking along the shoreline of the beach, while everyone else is cannonballing and breaststroking their little hearts out. Besides, I love ocean life and want to go scuba diving one day. I can't do that if I'm scared of the water and don't know how to swim. And I hear swimming is a great way to exercise and burn calories. I want in on that!
That being said, I'm going to call up my local YMCA and inquire about the cost of swimming lessons - right after I get my flat stomach back and look good shirtless.
:-/
What about you?
Anyone out there holding it down in the kiddie pool like me? Don't be scared! Whip your life vest back and forth! Don't leave me out here all alone!
I'm sure there are some expert swimmers reading this post as well. Any tips for a horrified newbie like me?
Talk to me.
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Comments
I’ll watch though :D
Well see. You're different. You just don't want to learn. I do! But I'm terrified of the water. And I think I've stopped looking at it as a sport, which it totally is, and more of a means for survival. And yes, I love to "watch" as well. LOL
Great tips! I'm cool with letting the water run on my face. Letting my face go under the water in the tub? Not there yet! LOL
Oh. So now I see who I'll be bullying into taking swimming lessons with me this summer. LOL
"CODE 4?" LMAOOOOO. And see, that dunking of the head in water should be a damn misdemeanor. SMH
Swimming? 5am? Every day? In the ocean? Isn't that considered child abuse in 10 states? That just seems so cruel. But you know what? Now, you know how to swim! Aint mad at your Dad at all, except he could've taken you to the pool or something instead though. LOL
I think what did it for me was when some buddies and I were at a local community pool and trying to impress some girls and they were all jumping off of the high diving board. I figured that I could doggy-paddle enough to not drown, so I decided to take my chances. I stepped out on faith, and the fact that there were plenty of lifeguards around and jumped in...and it worked!
I'm definitely no Greg Louganis, but I don't live in fear of drowning...although I was recently on a boat in the ocean where you could swim out and I definitely put on a life vest, because I don't know if I trust myself to doggy paddle back to anyone's shore.
I have a theory about why many African-Americans can't swim. I believe that many of us cannot swim because many of us did not and/or do not have access to swimming pools. I feel that if swimming pools were in our neighborhoods or at our homes, swimming would be a norm for a lot of us. We as a people simply participate in activities that we have access to.
Learning the technic and how to breath is not the problem, practicing what you learn in the deeper water is!! I had been going to camp for 3 years and was to chicken to test what I learn in the deeper water untill one day we were having a water carnivale with the camp across the lake and while cheering my team on I got elbowed in the deeper water..! I screamed for help but no one could hear me from all the yelling and cheering. After maybe about 30 seconds of yelling for help I realize that the doggie paddle (treading) thing really work!..so I started doing some of the things they taught me and the next thing I knew I was smimming from one end of the dock to the other...BY MYSELF!! Maann, I was swimming around doing my thing for about 5 minutes before folks started jumping in to save me!
Sooo u conquer the swimming while I conquer the license! lmao!
LOL. Deal!
Your theory is actually a fact!
Studies show that most black folks don't have access to swimming pools and other water facilities, which hinders them from learning how to swim recreationally like more privileged children. So, it can definitely be considered a cultural/class issue as well. Hence, why so many people in New Orleans died from drowning because they didn't know how to swim. I find it quite fascinating actually.