Denting the Statistic

Today was supposed to be my day off from exercise since I went to the gym yesterday in order to catch some of the Cavaliers/Magic game.

At times, it's hard not to exercise. Even though I was feeling sluggish and weary, the pool was calling my name. I wanted to practice front crawl breathing. I found a video that I had not seen on YouTube that had some helpful hints.



Since I stopped swimming on Saturday, I hadn't been to the The Poo in awhile -- maybe it's because they keep the water so dang chilly. I reminded myself that competitive swimmers like the water cool so I was surprised when a member of the swim team looked at me, opened her mouth wide with excitement and said the water is so cold today. I like the Mehlville pool with its unusual hardwood ceiling but...
I was watching the local news yesterday and they talked about how the swimming pools will open soon and that 60% of African-Americans don't know how to swim. One gentleman, the director of the city pools, says that lots of parents push their children to play football and basketball, a trend documented in Hoop Dreams.

When I went swimming on Wednesday, there were about 20 kids in the pool taking lessons. Several of the kiddos have been taking lessons for quite awhile and, judging by their skills, there will be a dent in that statistic very soon.