It's a myth, bro...anyone can float, you just have to be patient and learn from a decent teacher whose head isn't full of that 'muscle density' crap...
-See that guy who looks like a cross between Elvis and P-Funk? He is Johnny Ross.- From THE SIDE STREET CHRONICLES by C.W. Badie --- On Tue, 8/12/08, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Re: OT: Who Knew? A Black Man on US Olympic Swim Team To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Date: Tuesday, August 12, 2008, 9:15 PM I had several friends--all good swimmers--try to teach me to swim when I was 18. I was about 5'11" then, about 185 pounds, very slim. I tend to carry more mass in my lower body than my upper, at least, back then. I wasn't able to float to save my life. They tried everything with me: floating on my back, my stomach, dog paddling, holding on to the edge of the pool and trying to float. Nothing worked. Don't know if it was my body mass/distribution, my form, or nervousness, making me tense up and "denser". But everyone else in my group could float, and they were all Mexican and Black. I don't know the truth of how Black tissue performs in water compared to white tissue. There *are* general differences in our muscle and fat makeup. But I've never seen anything to say we can't float at all. ------------ -- Original message ------------ -- From: "ravenadal" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] com> My black children not only swim and float, they grew up with a swimming pool in their backyard. My father, on the other end, served in the Navy in the Pacific during World World II without being able to swim a lick. I, who can swim but cannot float, am somewhere in between. ~rave! --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED] ups.com, "Meta" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > wrote: > > That's pretty impressive, especially when you realize that > Black people can't float(?). That is the explanation a swimming > instructor gave a black friend of mine for why my friend's son > was finding it hard to float on his back, while learning to swim. > According to this instructor and a white co-worker of my friend, > this is a scientific fact. > > I haven't bothered to follow up on this claim, as I see it > as a stupid waste of time. > > Meta > > > > > --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED] ups.com, KeithBJohnson@ wrote: > > > > Wow, the US won gold in mens 4x100 freestyle and set a new world > record. Michael Phelps' quest for greatness continues. That's all well > and good, but what really caught my eye was when i noticed a Black man > on the team! Not being a fan of swimming, I know nothing about who's > who in that world, but of course i ran off to Google to see who the > Brother was. Turns out his name is Cullen Jones, who is a rising star > in the swimming world. Seems he set a US record for the 50 m recently. > Nike was so impressed with him (and the novelty of an Olympic level > Black swimmer, I imagine) they signed him to a two million dollar > contract--the most ever given to a short-distance swimmer! I'd guess > he's on the way to becoming the most successful black swimmer in our > country at least. > > Below is a Wikipedia article on Jones, following that is the story > on him and his team's dramatic gold-medal win over France tonight... > > ************ ********* * > > http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ Cullen_Jones > > He trains with David Marsh at the Center of Excellence at > Mecklenburg Aquatic Club in Charlotte, NC. > > He burst onto the international swimming scene at the 2006 Pan > Pacific Championships[ 3] in Victoria, BC. He was a student athlete at > North Carolina State University and is majoring in English with a > minor in Psychology. In the summer of 2006, he became a professional > swimmer after signing with Nike.[4] > > At the 2006 Pan Pacific Championships he set a meet record in the > 50m Freestyle with a time of 21.84. He also swam a leg (s plit of > 47.96) in the world record breaking 4x100 m Freestyle Relay along with > Michael Phelps, Jason Lezak and Neil Walker. He also got a gold medal > in 4x100 m Freestyle Relay with the same teammates in 2007 World > Aquatics Championships > > Jones is the first African-American to hold or share a world record > (4x100 Freestyle Relay) in swimming[citation needed]. He is also the > third African-American to make the US Olympic swimming team after > Anthony Ervin and Maritza Correia. At the 2008 Olympic swimming > trials, Jones broke the American record in the 50 meter freestyle with > a time of 21.59. The record was subsequently broken the next day by > Garrett Weber-Gale. In the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing, he won the > gold medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay in a world record time of > 3:08.24. > > > http://www.nytimes. com/2008/ 08/11/sports/ olympics/ 11phelpsweb. html? _r=1&oref=slogin > > Michael Phelps won his second gold medal of the 2008 Games on > Monday, with a victory by the United States in the 4x100 freestyle > relay. The United States finished first in a world record of 3:08.24, > with France taking silver and Australia getting bronze. > > The U.S. relay team had felt strong entering the race, after a > world-record performance by the B team in the heats on Sunday night. > The Americans Nathan Adrian, Cullen Jones, Ben Wildman-Tobriner and > Matt Grevers finished the freestyle relay in 3:12.23 seconds, 0.23 > seconds faster than the world record set two years ago at the > Pan-Pacific Championships by the United States A team. > > At the United States trials in July, Jason Lezak, Garrett Weber- Gale > and Phelps posted sub-48 second swims, a feat matched this year by > only two other swimmers, Bernard and Australia's Eamon Sullivan. > > Lezak, Weber-Gale and Phelps sat out the preliminaries to conserve > energy. In what proved to be a competition within the competition, the > four Americans who did swim were essentially racing one another for > the privilege to team with Lezak, Weber-Gale and Phelps. > > Cullen Jones, a Bronx native who grew up in New Jersey, won the > honors by clocking the fastest split, a 47.61 on the second leg. > Adrian led off with a 48.82, Wildman-Tobriner had a 48.03 and Grevers > anchored the team in 47.77. It was otherwise a fruitful day for > Grevers, who also broke the Olympic record in the heats of the > 100-meter backstroke. > > The United States had never lost the 4x100 freestyle relay at an > Olympics until 2000, when they were upset by Australia. In Athens four > years l ater, the Americans again failed to win, finishing third behind > South Africa — which returns its victorious team intact — and the > Netherlands. > > Returning the Olympic crown to the States is a high priority, Phelps > said. "A couple of days ago we had a guys-only meeting where we shared > some stories going back and forth about the hopes we have for this > meet," he said. > > >
