REDFORD, MICH. (WXYZ) — “I just remember grabbing someone’s ankle and pulling myself up,” said Nascha Green.
Nascha Green didn't know how to swim when entering open water for the first time at 9-years-old and she almost didn't come out alive.
“It was awful – and after that, I developed an aversion to water,” said Green.
Nascha was still working through her fears when fright hit again in 2015 at a friend's swimming pool, this time to her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Corinne.
“She reached in and toppled in,” said Green.
Nearly 30 years separate these terrifying incidents, but they’re connected by a troubling reality that persists today. Black people are less likely to know how to swim and more likely to drown. The youth statistics are even grimmer.
In swimming pools, in particular, the drowning rate for black children ages 10-14 is eight times that of white children the same age.
WXYZ’s Ameera David asked, “When you think about the statistics that disproportionately impact people that look like you, how does it make you feel?”
“Really sad,” said Green. “A lot of times its just access.”
Access to swimming pools, historical racism, and inherited water fears are just some of the factors driving a wedge in the dangerous swim gap.
“That’s what pushes us every day to become better,” said Coach Javon Waters, CEO of Aqua Lyfe Swim School.
Coach Javon Waters proved that on the other side of those headwinds is hope.
“We started with 12 students - we just finished registration and we have 180 students with this program,” said Coach Waters.
Today, inner-city demand for instruction in swim safety is skyrocketing – parents like Nascha feeding a call to action.
“I did not want her to go through life feeling like I felt,” said Green.
Corinne - now 9 years old, is building a new narrative, putting a cap on her inherited anxiety.
Dissolving the disparity goes well beyond safety.
“It kind of transformed from just getting kids into the pool to trying to get them to compete at a higher level,” said Jamal Roberts.
Coach Jamal Roberts jump-started Razor AquaticsSwim Team to show the world that not only can black and brown kids swim, but they can also swim well but this batch of kids certainly didn’t start that way.
“You don’t have to have prior skills to join our team,” said Coach Jamal Roberts, Founder of Razor Aquatics Swim Team.
Jamal selected them based on only potential and taught the vast majority of them to swim from scratch. An investment in black youth is not lost on mom, Diamond Jenkins, who today, watches her son Evan conquer something that once wasn’t possible.
“It's really deep for me and his presence here is really powerful,” said Jenkins. “Thinking back to those historical moments where you have periods where black children weren't allowed in the water.”
Or those like Diamond Jenkins were afraid of it.
“It’s inspiring,” said Jenkins.
Swim-spiration that now has Diamond finding her own stroke.
“I’m swimming!” said Jenkins. “For the first time in 35 years, “I swam– I swam! Oh my God!”
“Do programs like these give you hope?” asked David. “Absolutely and it’s awesome to see so many kids that look like my family together learning how to swim.”
Together, closing the gap, one lap at a time.
