Not Exactly Gospel Music Related…..Cullen Jones at the Beijing Olympics
Olympic swimmer, Cullen Jones, has earned a Gold medal on the USA’s 4×100 freestyle relay team. The team’s winning time also earned them a new world record. NBC described the race as the “most exciting, most record-breaking, most amazing, thrilling, unbelievable relay anyone could ever imagine.”
Cullen is the second African-American swimmer, after Anthony Ervin, to win a gold medal. He says when he was 5 he almost drowned at a water park, and that is what compels him to teach others to swim. He notes that minorities are three times more likely to drown and works hard to teach them how to swim.
My kids took swimming lessons for 2 weeks this summer. Drowning rates for our city is off the charts. They had fun, got some much needed exercise, and met new friends. They didn’t learn all that’s needed in those two weeks, but they mastered the essentials. I’m sure they would love this quote by Cullen, because they tended to stay in water they could stand up in. lol
“I’ve talked to tons and tons of groups of African American kids and asked them, ‘Who likes to get in the water?’ and all hands go up. I ask, ‘Who can swim?’ All hands go up. And I’m like, ‘Do you understand what that means to swim? You can’t be in the shallow end. You have to be in the deep end.’ Half the hands drop.”-Cullen Jones
