For some children, that first summer dip in the pool could be more deadly than others, according to recent research conducted by University of Memphis professors about minority groups andswimming.
The first phase of the study revealed nearly 60 percent of African American children had little to no swimming skills, which tripled their chances of drowning.
According to a study printed in the American Journal of Public Health, in 2006 black males aged 15 to 19 years displayed a drowning rate of 1.39 per 100,000 persons, compared to the white male rate of0.11 and the Hispanic male rate of 0.26. Black females of the same age scored the highest as well, rating 0.18 as compared to white females with a 0.04 and Hispanic females who scored a 0.06 rate.
Assistant professor in The U of M's health and sports sciences department Carol Irwin said U of M researchers began working from there.
The first phase of their study surveyed 2,000 parents in 2008, using a broader approach than this year's more in-depth focus group.
"We learned that the number one factor was not just the fear of drowning," she said. "They had a deep, profound, embedded fearthat they could not swim."
After two local children drowned in 2008, it sparked the formation of Make a Splash Mid-South, a group devoted to teaching water safety to children who have little or no swim training.
Susan Helms, director of injury prevention and Safe Kids Mid-South at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center, said the program's goal was to teach 1,000 children to swim, have 100 join recreational and developmental swim teams and 50 join competitive swim teams by 2012.
"We combine seasoned swimmers with learners," Helms said. "So they're meeting peers and there are friendships made there."
The program combined forces with local YMCA facilities, local schools and area swimming facilities to improve lifeguardtraining, encourage diversity in swimming, offer lessons to children at reduced prices or free of charge and teach free family CPR classes.
Halfway towards its 2012 deadline, Helms said the organization has taught roughly 150 children to swim since they began.
She said that to reach its goals, Safe Kids Mid-South will need to raise additional funds to support swimming lessons, engage more groups, venues and instructors to provide them, as well as attain greater overall community support.
Sally Ross, assistant professor of health and sports sciences at The U of M, led the second phase of swimming research with focus groups in six different U.S. cities.
"The ability to talk to people in person gave us a deeper, richer component to work with," she said. "We learned about theirbackgrounds with swimming - what's keeping their kids from swimming. They gave us somereally great information, such as their economic situations and lack of time to take their kids swimming."
Ross said most parents weren't surprised to find out the high numbers of children in minority groups who were dying in thewater each year.
"The numbers are staggering," she said. "But some of the parents shared information about African American girls and the amount of effort in taking care of their hair. One mother said 'Sunday washair day,' for her and her swimmer daughters, where they spent all day fixing the damage swimming did to their hair."
The focus group research, which began in February and ended last month, was successful in getting information about each family's fears about swimming, Ross said.
"We let them tell us," she said. "Instead of us as the researchers, they're really the experts and we represent their voices."
