Can you swim?

[jdubnyce]

this is only for american blacks. idk how you cant fukking swim its honestly pathetic. all we Caribbeans do is swim

 

[ben anderson]

pretty sure you know what i ment

 

[old_timer]

as a little kid i was playing ball in a summer league
each friday they'd take us to this fancy place for a "pool party"
i didn't even have a swimsuit let alone know how to swim
but they found a used suit for me ( upon reflection) and i got started
a coach encouraged me to keep swimming for conditioning and recovery
i didn't have any strategies-
i'd just swim straight freestyle for an hour and get out
along the way i learned how to do flipturns by watching the girls

fast forward many years..
around age 29-30 i could no longer run or jump two days in a row without pain
so i gave swimming another shot
i was doing early morning swims at the ymca
i could get a lane during the off-season
but when it got crowded?? i couldn't get a lane unless i joined their "masters team"
so i did,, learned the other strokes pretty quickly
also learned how to do structured workouts and actually started improving
there were twice-a-year swim meets for adults (by 5 year age blocks)
i swam 400 IM, 200 fly, and 1500/1650 free

fast forward a bunch more years-
right now i can't do a legal breast kick due to knee situation
i doubt i could make 100 fly without dying
but my goal is to do a clean, legal 400 IM in under 7:30 by the end of 2015

i would encourage more ex-athletes to get into swimming as adults
elite swimmers are usually 6'2"-6'4" with long wingspans
in many ways it is a natural fit
very little risk of injury if some precautions are taken

 

[Ricky Church]

I can get from one place to another, and I can not drown. I don't know that I'd call it "swimming" tho

lmao. came in to say the same thing, just don't sign me up for any open water competition events.

 

[Bawon Samedi]

I'm an excellent swimmer.

 

[The Prince of All Saiyans]

 

[mannyrs13]

I haven't been swimming in a while, and we got a pool. I should go for a swim sometime soon if possible. Great exercise.

 

[Malta]

Yes, my mom took me and my sister to the Boys & Girls club and Y for swimming lessons when we were little, oddly enough my sister isn't very good, but with me they said I just jumped in the water...my survival instincts were apparently very low when I was little

But, I got a mean breast stroke

 

[JerseyBoy23]

It's really generational thing tbh. Swimming pools were either not built in black neighborhoods or we weren't allowed to swim in pools. My grandparents never swam and only one of my parents happened to learn (grew up the lower east side).

I swim barely but that's only cause I was taught in summer camp.

This article actually explains my earlier point a lot.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90213675

 

[ExpensiveThrillz]

i hate this topic because so many of "us" can't swim like that shyt is cute or normal....just like driving...its a life saving tool at the very least and folks should have a working knowledge on how to swim and/or float in cases of extreme emergency

i swim...love to do it and do it well....actually wouldnt survive without it...especially the ocean. there are not enough words to describe the feelings i experience when im letting the waves take me...

 

[DrX]

NO.,....................

 

[606onit]

I can swim I was actually on the swim team when I was younger and a few years in high school. I remember this white boy I worked with came up to me and asked if I can swim I just said yes and walked off. I later found him asking more black people if they could swim. I said are you asking all the black people if they can swim ? He said yes because he read some article and he never knew it was true. Sad thing was more than half the people he asked said no. Oh well...

You worked with a White Supremacist and didnt call him on it. In one breath, he said that he's asking this question, in order to probe a theory from an "article" (read. 'st0rmfr0nt' forum ) that he read. Once you disprove the 'theory' (since theory means ALL, not some, or most) he continues to actually ask more Black people (read. 'confirm the stereotyping excuse which he wanted & already carried from a 'White-Americccan' upbringing' )

 

[Milk N Cookies]

Nope got out of swimming cause I have eczema.

 

[CinnaSlim]

My mom was on the swim team in high school and a lifeguard, my dad is from Trinidad and ex-military. They both can dive and swim laps but none of their kids can swim lol


I can tread water and swim across the pool shortways but I got no stamina lol. We never went swimming that often.

 

[Lost His Smile]

Yeah, but I was never able to do the "swim test" at the local swimming complex. If you passed you were able to enter without a parent. I could swim but was just too afraid of the 10+ pool for some reason.