Thursday, August 14, 2008

Keep Swimming!

Have you guys heard of this kid...


That's Cullen Jones, olympic swimmer. Traditionally there definitely hasn't been much diversity in swimming so it's nice to see him there and doing so well. This is also especially refreshing (swimming pun intended) because many african-american children are in the same danger that he was in when he was little. When he was 5, he didn't know how to swim and nearly drowned at a water park. The statistics reveal that minorities are three times more susceptible to drowning. Now Jones is teaching little kids how to swim. There are a number of blog posts and articles online about Jones, including from major newspapers like the New York Times.

3 comments:

enigma4ever said...

I blogged about him last week- so inspiring and a good guy toboot- he is trying to make sure more inner city kids learn how to swim....he is amazing..

Alien Citizen said...

Cool. Glad he's showing up on the radar. I think there are a lot of people doing good work in their communities who are never heard of, much less celebrated, in the larger society.

two crows said...

wow. I wasn't aware of the statistic you cited -- though it makes sense when I think about it.
I'm so glad he survived, overcame his own fear and is doing what he can to change things.
kudos!

 
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