Teaching Black Children To Swim

Black Children Swimming

Earlier this month, tragedy struck a Black family in Henrico County, Virginia. Nine-year-old King Overton drowned in a pool on the first day of swim camp. It is a terrible irony that he was there to learn a skill that was designed to help save his life. Also this month, 14-year-old 8th grader E’mari Marshall-Woodard drowned in a pool at a resort in Connecticut during a school field trip. These headlines reinforce the need for Black children to learn basic swimming skills. As we are now at the beginning of hot summer weather and swimming season… the risks of drownings increase exponentially. We have a panel experts and advocates to talk about the issue.

Resources:

https://dpr.dc.gov/page/family-aquatics

https://www.diversityinaquatics.org/

https://blackkidsswim.com/

https://ebanliving.com/

Guests:

Thennie Freeman, Director, DC Department of Parks and Recreation

Dr. Miriam Lynch, Assistant Coach, Howard University Swimming and Diving, Executive Director, Diversity In Aquatics

Kevin Lewis, Father and Swimming Advocate

Edward Rosemond, Executive Director, Black Kids Swim