Archive for August, 2008

Make A Splash - Harlem Week

Posted by Jayson on August 22nd, 2008

Recently, John Cruzat headed to Harlem Week to promote the “Make A Splash” (MAS), our national water safety initiative. Here are some of his thoughts and notes from his historic work in Harlem. Here are a few photos from the event.

Harlem Week

I wanted to give you a quick update on the MAS appearance in Harlem. Before I arrived I talked to Winston the Harlem week director about the importance of pushing the appearance to the media. The local NBC affiliate (Channel 4) interviewed me regarding the MAS program and the Olympics. The interview was live at 6:30 a.m. Today we went through most of the giveaways. After talking to a number of parents throughout the day the following topics came up in many of the conversations I had.

  • Fear. The fear of swimming has been past down to kids. Most of the parents that I talked to don’t know how to swim. I had a very long conversation with a gentleman who will not let his son go anywhere near a pool. When I pointed out the drowning statistics his attitude changed from my kids don’t need to know how to swim to where can I sign them up.
  • Cullen Jones. Cullen’s success in the games was a wonderful point of reference. Families understood the impact of an elite athlete like Cullen on the children who will begin and embrace our sport.
  • Access. The problem isn’t necessarily access but transportation. This backs up the diversity research. One parent said that she wants her daughter to take lessons but she (the parent) has to work most of the day and couldn’t bring her to the pool.
  • Age. Everyone (the parents) assumed that after a certain age a person is too old to learn how to swim. Most of the elderly people I talked to said that it is a sport for the young.
  • Visibility of the YMCA. Most of the parents that came by the booth bring their kids to the YMCA for lessons.
  • Lack of USA Swimming visibility in ethnic neighborhoods. Not many people knew about USA Swimming. When I mentioned Phelps quest for 8 gold medals (great way to start a conversation) they suddenly brightened up and said that they knew he was going for the record but they didn’t understand that USA Swimming is the national governing body for swimming. I strongly believe that continued appearances at festivals like Harlem Week will increase the visibility of Make a Splash among at risk groups.

Thanks for the update John. We will look forward to hearing more from you in your upcoming travels.

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Cullen Jones uses his new hardware to make a change

Posted by Jayson on August 20th, 2008

There was a great article online at MercuryNews.com in which gold medalist Cullen Jones discussed swimming and diveristy. Jones is the second African-American swimmer to win Olympic gold.

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Lee Pitts featured at Juneteenth festival

Posted by Jayson on August 19th, 2008

Below is a great article on Lee Pitts I missed from earlier this summer (my most humble apologies Lee).

Juneteenth to feature famed black swim instructor

By JOHN BOZZO
Staff WriterDAYTONA BEACH — Famed swimming instructor Lee Pitts will highlight the Juneteenth festival 9 a.m. Saturday at Cypress Street Park.The city began celebrating Juneteenth in 2001, but no festival was held last year due to construction of a new pool in the park. Pitts participated in ceremonies when the pool opened in May.

“Lee Pitts is a renowned swim instructor and black swimmer,” said Percy Williamson, the city’s Leisure Services director.

Some children from the city’s Leisure Services programs, who don’t know how to swim, will participate in a lesson to be taught by Pitts, who established a swimming school in Fort Myers in 1990. He has published articles and appeared on radio and television shows as a water-safety expert.

A demonstration by black scuba divers is also expected.

“Encouraging swimming is important for African-American youth,” Williamson said.

Juneteenth commemorates June 19,1865, when Union Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, with word about the freeing of slaves after the Civil War and two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

The festival is free and open to the public. Vendors and corporate sponsors provided more than $40,000 to pay for the celebration, which includes a dinner tonight at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University honoring unsung heroes in the community.

“It’s great for the city to have this event and celebrate what it (Juneteenth) represents,” said City Commissioner Pam Woods, who represents the area where the pool is located. Woods donated $2,980.28 to help provide swimming lessons. The amount is her share of the Bike Week Sponsorship Fund, a pool of money used by commissioners for worthy causes.

“It’s a positive thing the city has going on that day,” she said. “It’s great that we’ll be at the new (swimming) facility.”

In addition to swimming, the festival in the park next to the pool will include activities such as a kid carnival, voter registration, health fair, vendors and a pound cake contest.

“In years past we’ve had some difficulty with some young people who come out,” Williamson said. “That’s why we’re encouraging parents to bring their children out. We will have security there to prevent unruly acts.”

Minorities, especially black children, drown at a greater rate than white people, according to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

The new pool replaces a pool built in 1942, which was closed in 2000 after a recommendation from the Health Department that it would be cheaper to build a new pool than correct problems at the old pool.

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