CPS, Make Swimming a Graduation Requirement

Olympic Swimmer Cullen Jones visited the Washington Park natatorium in 2012 as part of USA Swimming’s “Make a Splash “ program. Jones says children should learn how to swim as soon as possible so they do not develop a fear of water. Photo courtesy of the Chicago Park District

For much of my career I have been reporting on the drowning rates of Black Americans, which are higher than any other ethnic group in the country. It is one of those frustrating stories to report on because despite some of the best efforts, the numbers are not getting better.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the disparity in drowning rates among Black persons compared with White persons increased significantly from 2005–2019. Despite several efforts from groups like USA Swimming to put more focus and resources into Black communities, Black people still have a drowning rate that is five times higher than white Americans.

Here in Chicago, Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) has been working with the Chicago Fire Department for years to bring more awareness to swimmers who use the city’s lakefront in the summer to cool off and have some fun. On July 22nd, the CFD performed a water rescue demonstration at 57th Street Beach. The partnership with Ald. Hairston goes back several years and is aimed at educating young swimmers about water safety, according to the CFD.

I applaud Ald. Hairston’s efforts. But the truth is, more needs to be done by the city to get African American kids in the water and teaching them how to swim. One step the city could take is making it MANDATORY for all Chicago Public School students to learn how to swim in order to be promoted to high school. While the earlier a child learns the better, by the time they enter high school they should be able to do basic swimming and floating to save their life.

When Barbara Byrd-Bennett was leading CPS, I brought this very idea to her attention during an exclusive interview I conducted with her that was published in the Chicago Crusader Newspaper. Byrd-Bennett loved the idea and said on record she would push to make it happen. Well, it never happened and Byrd-Bennett was later sent to prison after being convicted of fraud for stealing CPS funds for her personal benefit.

The idea however is still a solid one. In general, a person can learn how to swim in less than three weeks and it is a skill that with stay with them for the rest of their life. Teresa Albano is a journalist and swim instructor with the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago. Albano is on a quest to swim in every swimming pool operated by the Chicago Park District, a total of 91 pools. In addition to the park district, just about every CPS high school has a swimming pool, including 14 of which are run by the park district, which means there are plenty of facilities not being used to their capacity. It is more like a lack of will and a lack of creative thinking as to why Chicago has not gone forward with my idea.

Even though as Albano has skillfully noted on her blog the fact that racism is also a factor in terms of why Black kids in Chicago are not getting access to swimming lessons, there are still ample Black American instructors, organizations (Boy Scouts of America) and facilities (Salvation Army Kroc Center of Pullman) to fill the needs.  

I covered Olympic Gold-Medalist swimmer Cullen Jones’ visit to the Washington Park swimming pool on the South Side back in Aug. of 2012, where he appeared with Mayor Emanuel. Jones, who is African American, said he learned to swim after he was rescued from a near-drowning at a splash-down pool when he was only five. Jones is the first African-American to hold a world record (4×100-meter freestyle relay) in swimming. He said many of the reasons Black Americans don’t swim are rooted in cultural myths and bad excuses, like women don’t want to mess up their hair or the notion that black people don’t swim. Jones said getting young people into the water when they are under the age of three is important because it doesn’t allow them to become scared of the water or buy into negative social stereotypes about swimming.

Teaching Chicago students how to swim is also a way to reduce the nationwide shortage of lifeguards. This summer in Chicago and cities throughout the country, public pools are having reduced hours or did not open for the summer because there are lifeguard staffing shortages. Making it a requirement to have students swim has the potential to increase the pool (pun intended) of certified lifeguards to choose from. While a basic swimmer cannot become a lifeguard, introducing young people to aquatics will increase the potential of a student maybe wanting to learn advanced skills where they can join their school’s swimming or water polo team, in addition to perhaps one day becoming an instructor or lifeguard. I am sure the United States Coast Guard would also love to see more citizens swimming and learning about water safety.

“Drowning is preventable, and more prevention efforts are needed to reduce the racial/ethnic disparities in drowning death rates that persist in the United States,” says the CDC.

All it takes is some effort on our part to make this a reality.