August 2010 Blog Posts (8)

When Does Swimming Happen?

How long does it take to become a swimmer? Our trip to a friend’s backyard lake: My 10 year old daughter has a friend who lives on a lake. The friend has come to pick her up and taken her to her house to play a few times. My daughter usually gets home late, full of smiles, with wet hair. In early August, the whole family was invited to come play in the lake. We took our suits, and drove the 30 minutes to their house. It was picturesque. You had to go out in the yard to take in the whole view.… Continue

Added by Angela Gray on August 30, 2010 at 10:37pm — No Comments

Lake Michigan Trip

This was our first Lake Michigan trip in 4 years. It was a triumphant return in many ways–the sand was comfortable, and the water was warm, which is a never in Lake Michigan. But the beach that we visited had very big rocks on the lake floor, making it too painful for the little children to venture in.

The baby would go in if I carried her. Then she’d try to get bold and have me let go of her. The waves were ever present, but mild. There was sand deeper in the water, but it was hard… Continue

Added by Angela Gray on August 28, 2010 at 9:07pm — No Comments

Giving Kids A Lifeline

From Sports Illustrated:

He was only five years old when he found himself staring up at death, another black child on his way to becoming a statistic. Cullen Jones had not foreseen the danger ahead of him at the waterpark in Allentown, Pa., that summer afternoon in 1989. Not when he stood atop a waterslide with his mother, Debra, and father, Ronald. Not when Ronald, ahead of… Continue

Added by Jayson Jackson on August 25, 2010 at 9:30am — No Comments

Olaves returns to helm

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Aug. 23) - Jorge Olaves returns in his second stint as Head Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Coach, served in the same capacity from 1997 to 2002, where he built the team from five athletes his first season to 30 in his final season. His teams won the HBCU Swimming and Diving meet in 2002. Also, his team reached a national ranking of 36th in the men's 200-yard freestyle and medly relays.

In addition, Olaves has coached Leonard Young (1997), who holds the school… Continue

Added by Douglas Carrington on August 23, 2010 at 5:30pm — No Comments

Teach them to swim, teach them to survive

New DAP Member, Cathy Bellarin, was featured in Baltimore Sun, by Susan Reimer:

A teenager who could not swim stepped off a sand bar into deep water in a Louisiana river last week, and six other teens, none of whom could swim, drowned trying to help him. All the while, parents, none of whom could swim, watched… Continue

Added by Jayson Jackson on August 12, 2010 at 9:30am — No Comments

DAP Membership Drive

First off, thanks for your continued support of the Diversity in Aquatics Program Network. You are making a difference! It's important that we keep this momentum going, and therefore want to enlist your help in doing a membership drive. The goal is for each member to recruit at least five new members in the next 20 days (August 10-30). The five people who recruit the most new…

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Added by Jayson Jackson on August 11, 2010 at 9:00am — No Comments

5 Questions with Nikole Saffle: Preventing drowning

New DAP Member, Nikole Saffle was featured in Detroit Free Press, by Cassandra Spratling:

Q: What's the first thing you thought when you heard news of six teens who drowned last week in Shreveport, La.?

A: I was horrified. We had a similar incident here in Detroit (in… Continue

Added by Jayson Jackson on August 10, 2010 at 12:30pm — No Comments