Black Men Can't Swim? Well not in the UK
Black Men Can't Swim
Broadcast on BBC Radio 4
Friday 2 October 2009 11:00-11:30
Actor, comedian and non-swimmer Matt Blaize investigates why fewer black people swim in the UK than the population as a whole.
He asks if it is a question of "can't swim" or "won't swim". He examines physiological theories that black people have a higher bone density and are therefore less buoyant; training methods; the lack of role models; and asks if any social issues can offer an explanation.
In the UK, many black men and women have never learnt to swim despite their success in other fields and other sports.
A recent Ofsted report showed that despite most 11 year olds reaching the required standard in swimming, children from black backgrounds are less likely to do so and a Sport England survey showed that participation in swimming among black adults is lower than among the population as a whole.
Matt speaks to Cullen Jones, a US athlete, an Olympic Gold medallist and a world-record holder. He is a swimmer and he is black. In the USA, 60 per cent of black children cannot swim, almost twice the figure of white children, whilse Miami police have had to drop their swimming requirement for new recruits in order to attract more black people to the force.
During the course of this programme, Matt himself takes swimming lessons to see if he can learn to swim as an adult.
http://www.zshare.net/audio/664706914e502f7b/
Black Men Can't Swim
Broadcast on BBC Radio 4
Friday 2 October 2009 11:00-11:30
Actor, comedian and non-swimmer Matt Blaize investigates why fewer black people swim in the UK than the population as a whole.
He asks if it is a question of "can't swim" or "won't swim". He examines physiological theories that black people have a higher bone density and are therefore less buoyant; training methods; the lack of role models; and asks if any social issues can offer an explanation.
In the UK, many black men and women have never learnt to swim despite their success in other fields and other sports.
A recent Ofsted report showed that despite most 11 year olds reaching the required standard in swimming, children from black backgrounds are less likely to do so and a Sport England survey showed that participation in swimming among black adults is lower than among the population as a whole.
Matt speaks to Cullen Jones, a US athlete, an Olympic Gold medallist and a world-record holder. He is a swimmer and he is black. In the USA, 60 per cent of black children cannot swim, almost twice the figure of white children, whilse Miami police have had to drop their swimming requirement for new recruits in order to attract more black people to the force.
During the course of this programme, Matt himself takes swimming lessons to see if he can learn to swim as an adult.
http://www.zshare.net/audio/664706914e502f7b/
Last edited:
