Spokespeople
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Janet Evans and Olympic silver medalist Maritza Correia, the first black woman to make a U.S. Olympic swim team (2004), are encouraging families to learn how to swim together in order to stay safe and healthy this summer. The two women will be at The Big Swim event.
- Janet Evans’ mother, Barbara, never learned to swim. Barbara knew the dangers small children face around water, and when her daughter was just a toddler, she enrolled her in swimming lessons. “My mother has a total fear of the water,” Evans said.
When the Evans family moved to California, their new home came with a back yard pool. In addition to Janet’s mother, none of the three Evans children knew how to swim.
“My mom was scared something would happen to us, so she enrolled us in swimming lessons at the Fullerton YMCA,” Evans said. “I was only 18 months old and was told I was too young, but I really wanted to be in the water where my older brothers were.”
Baby Janet managed to convince those around her she was ready for lessons. And was she ever. “By age three, I was able to swim all four strokes,” Evans said.
“I think getting kids in the water while they are young is the thing. Kids need to learn to swim to be comfortable and safe in the water. Most parents don’t realize how quickly a drowning can happen.”
- Maritza Correia took a different aquatic path. Diagnosed with scoliosis at age six, doctors recommended swimming or gymnastics. Correia grew up in Puerto Rico, where her family enjoyed the beach. So swimming it was.
“We spent a lot of time at the beach and at an early age, my mother was teaching my brother and me basics, like floating and how to be safe in the water,” said Correia. “I started swimming lessons at age seven and by the fall of that year, I signed up for a swim team.”
Correia is troubled when she sees drowning statistics that show black children between the ages of 5 and 19 are 2.6 times more likely to drown than whites. “Those statistics are very alarming, but this is a problem that can be fixed,” she said. “We just need to be able to take time to help our kids learn basic water safety skills and teach them how to swim. Once you learn how to swim, you can enjoy the swimming lifestyle of good health and fitness.”
Not everyone can win Olympic gold medals. But everyone can learn to be safe in the water.
Drowning By the Numbers
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The following statistics demonstrate the need for action:
- #1 Cause of death for children under five.
- 2nd Leading cause of injury-related death among children under the age of 15.
- 2.6 Number of times African-American children age 5-19 are more likely to drown than white children in the same age group.
- 9 Number of people who drown in the United States every day.
- 70 Percent of all preschoolers who drown who are in the care of one or both parents at the time of drowning.
- 5,000 Estimated number of children age 14 and under who are hospitalized annually due to near-drowning.
- 6,000 Approximate number of annual drownings in the United States.
Log onto the Make A Splash Water Safety Campaign media web site for more information, statistics and downloadable information.
About USA Swimming: As the National Governing Body for competitive swimming in the United States, USA Swimming formulates the rules, implements policies and procedures, conducts national championships, disseminates safety and sports medicine information and selects athletes to represent the United States in international competition. USA Swimming has more than 300,000 members nationwide and sanctions more than 7,000 events each year. For more information, visit www.usaswimming.org.
