Honestly, I've had this discussion ad nauseum. There is no instinctual dog-paddling that can over-ride the anxiety or terror, apparently. I've heard the claim made "i don't float' multiple times. I can't understand not floating, but seriously, I've heard all the claims and I still can't get my mind around it.I'm as skinny as a rail, and honest to God, I sink. I mean, not to the bottom of the pool or anything, but left to my own devices I hover about two feet under the surface. It's strange and unnatural.
infinitywaltz: Jesus Christ! Six people drowned trying to save one kid! That is not easy to fathom.Please tell me this wording wasn't remotely intentional.
Where do you intend people who live in projects take lessons?Why not put some pools in those "projects" (many of which have been torn down over the decades -- the number of people who live in projects is probably pretty low). Anyway, 70% of black people don't live in "the projects" or lack access to swimming facilities. Most black people are middle class.
If you arch your back, you WILL float. Some people need to put more effort into this than others and it's not something anyone ever *tells* you to do outside of swimming lessons, but I promise you, if you lie on your back and work at pointing your hips up, you WILL float.Uh, doesn't it depend on whether or not you have air in your lungs? I know if I exhale entirely, I'll sink to the bottom of the pool. If I have air in my lungs, the top of my head (about an inch or so) will be above water and I can easily push up a few inches to take a breath. Same as Eideteker.
My father was raised in Browsville, New York, the son of a truck driver. He was taken to a community center and taught to swim as young as he could be enrolled.Ok, that's nice. But a very high percentage of black people your father's age grew up in places where there was formal segregation and the community center wouldn't have been open to black kids. Others grew up in places where there was informal segregation, but going to the pool would have been an uncomfortable and possibly dangerous endeavor. You think those campers in Philadelphia were the first black kids to find out they weren't welcome at a swimming pool?
I've also heard about "going fishing with dad and getting kicked out of the boat to learn there on the spot", to which a lot of other people (white, black and otherwise) grimaced and nodded, leading me to suspect that while there is probably some truth to a cultural reticence to get into the water, there is equal evidence to suggest that dads can be fuckers.Dad used to take us out into the middle of a lake and intentionally swamp the canoe. We kids thought it was a hoot. I didn't realize until later how much basic boat safety and water safety I picked up in the course of "whee! we're tipping over!"
As I said, I am aware that some don't have the opportunity. My comments were addressed to those who do, but do not avail themselves upon it.Ok, but my point isn't just about availability. It's about culture. Your dad's Yiddish saying probably wasn't an ancient part of Jewish culture. It was probably something introduced into the Yiddish-speaking community as part of a public health campaign. Anti-drowning was a big public health thing in early 20th century America. This concern about drowning changed the culture around swimming for white people. Your father benefited from this and so did you. Because your father and others of his generation learned how to swim, it seemed natural that you would learn how to swim. It became an established part of childhood for most white Americans. Black people didn't benefit, because nobody was aiming the message at them and because they were often excluded from the facilities that would have allowed them to benefit from the message. And now, because drowning isn't a big public health concern for white people, the battle is seen to be won and nobody is very focused on anti-drowning initiatives, even though drowning still is a public health concern for black people.
I have never known a single Jew of any age, sex, country of origin, or level of affluence who could not swim, from NYCers my age to 97 year old grammas from Minsk.My mom can do basic survival doggie paddle but nothing more than that. I wouldn't say she can really swim. When I was a little kid, though, she fell off a pier when we were vacationing by a lake, and she was able to stay afloat and get to a pylon, which she clung to until someone fished her out, so I guess she can swim a bit. Anyway, she's Southern and working-class, and maybe that trumps Jewish for swimming purposes.
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The "position of the belly button" (in actuality, the relative length of the legs) supposedly explains why few blacks are Olympic class swimmers, it doesn't have anything to do with whether or not people literally learn to swim.
posted by delmoi at 11:05 AM on August 11, 2010 [1 favorite]