However 64 % of African American youngsters have low or no swimming capability, in line with a 2017 report from the USA Swimming Basis. (The identical holds true for 45 % of Latino youngsters and 40 % of Caucasian youngsters, in line with the report.) It’s a statistic that Paulana Lamonier, CEO and founding father of Black Individuals Will Swim, is striving to alter.
A multimedia journalist and authorized lifeguard and swim teacher, Lamonier is working towards rising illustration at swimming pools and seashores throughout the nation. “It began with a easy tweet on July 6, 2019. I used to be taking over some purchasers and stated I wish to educate 30 [Black] individuals the best way to swim. And that tweet went viral,” she says. “From there, individuals from LA, Atlanta, and Florida have been saying: ‘I would like classes.’ It made me notice the necessity of so many individuals who wish to be taught by somebody who appears to be like like them and understands what it’s prefer to be in that state of affairs of being Black, not understanding the best way to swim, and that concern.”
We spoke to the entrepreneur about combating the stereotype that Black individuals don’t swim, the significance of illustration, and extra.
Consultants In This Article
- Paulana Lamonier, Paulana Lamonier is the CEO and founding father of Black Individuals Will Swim, an organization that teaches Black individuals and other people of shade the best way to swim.
Nicely+Good: In a earlier interview, you stated swimming is an act of resistance. Why do you consider that’s true?
Paulana Lamonier: Throughout the board in sports activities, for Black individuals, we’ve been advised what we are able to and can’t do. For ballet, we’ve been advised about our bone construction, our hips, and that Black individuals aren’t sleek. And for swimming, it’s been stated that our bones are dense, or we are able to’t appear to swim and float.
I believe understanding the truth that not solely can we swim, however that we are able to swim very well, is greater than a survival tactic: I’m swimming since you advised me I couldn’t, and never solely can I, however I can do it quicker than you. That’s why I stated swimming is an act of resistance.
How did this delusion that Black individuals can’t swim turn out to be so pervasive?
I want I knew the reply to that, however from my years of expertise and analysis, it’s actually nearly preserving a sure group from doing a sure exercise. While you say one thing lengthy sufficient, it turns into any individual’s reality. And that’s why we wish to smash that stereotype and shut that false narrative down altogether. It is a life ability that you just’ve been telling individuals they’ll’t do.
Black Individuals Will Swim is encouraging individuals to share tales about how they discovered to swim. What’s your swim story?
I discovered the best way to swim via a Saturday swim program in my neighborhood in Uniondale, in Lengthy Island. It’s a pleasant melting pot. However I needed to relearn the best way to swim in faculty [joining the swim team] because of my coach Jennifer Trotman and her father, Robert Trotman.
They took me beneath their wings and actually opened my eyes to the potential for not simply Black individuals swimming, however Black management and Black possession.
When did you fall in love with swimming?
After I first relearned the best way to swim, I used to be doing it to shed weight. Then once I joined the swim staff, my coach had me do brief dash occasions and it will take me endlessly. Sooner or later we needed to do a [longer distance] relay occasion, and I used to be cruising. And once I obtained out of the pool, I felt like that is my occasion. It felt so good as a plus-size athlete to seek out an occasion that I can excel in. As a result of in swimming, you’re competing in two races: You’re competing in opposition to the opposite staff and also you’re competing in opposition to your self to determine how one can set private information. That’s once I discovered long-distance swimming was my area of interest. That’s once I knew this was my life. I wasn’t competing in opposition to different individuals, I used to be actually doing what felt proper for me.
This yr you deliberate to show 2,020 Black individuals the best way to swim, after which the pandemic occurred. What does that plan appear like now?
We’re nonetheless within the means of pivoting. We’re recipients of an Adidas I Fund Ladies grant for Defining the Way forward for Sport, and we have been semi-finalists for Essence’s Construct Your Legacy contest.
We’re additionally pivoting into storytelling with a marketing campaign referred to as #MySwimStory. We’re doing a deep dive into the tales of Black individuals and their relationships with water. We have now tales from aggressive swimmers to individuals conquering their fears. Lastly, we’re engaged on some scholarships paying it ahead to student-athletes who wish to compete on a collegiate degree, however don’t essentially have the funds.
Inform us extra about F.A.C.E. and the way it helps swimmers face their fears
With F.A.C.E., we’re encouraging individuals to face their fears. F is for enjoyable. We have now time in my swim lessons. A is for consciousness. Statistics present that 64 to 70 % of Black youngsters don’t know the best way to swim in comparison with 40 % of white youngsters. It’s an enormous disparity. We wish to emphasize this isn’t a luxurious. It’s an actual downside. C is for group. We have now lessons individuals can take with their greatest associates and guardian and youngster lessons as a result of we wish to normalize what swimming is locally. And lastly is schooling, which is my favourite half, as a result of we wish to educate individuals the best way to deal with their hair. We have now a category referred to as a Breath of Contemporary Hair and that’s our hair care 101 class the place we’re partnering with hair care corporations to not solely discover ways to do their hair, however obtain complimentary hair care merchandise as effectively.
Much like normal exercising, our hair is commonly used as an excuse to not swim. How do you personally care in your hair whereas swimming?
For me, I plan my hair days out. Both I’ve braids if I do know I’m going to swim this week. And earlier than I’m going swimming, I moist my hair as a result of our hair is a sponge. It’s necessary to moist your hair earlier than you go into the chlorine so the chlorine gained’t stick. Search for protecting hairstyles, reminiscent of field braids, Senegalese twists, and cornrows. It’s necessary to seek out types that can defend your hair.
