Swimming with sharks

It used to be widely believed that if you threw a black person into the water, he would automatically sink to the bottom. That's just one of the many stereotypes associated with African-Americans and swimming.

In the world of sports and athletics, racist attitudes and stereotypes have played a major role in shaping perceptions about which sporting events are more suited for a particular culture. For making racist remarks, commentators such as CBS's Jimmy 'The Greek' Snider have lost their jobs and pro athletes such as Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker have been condemned and fined.

The list is long and includes the misconception that blacks cannot swim. It's true that in the world of sports, African-Americans are rarely associated with aquatics. Even some African-Americans have bought into the stereotype and been reluctant to swim. In 1978, funk pioneer George Clinton scored with a top 10 R&B hit titled 'Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop).' The satirical song playfully examined black folks' paranoia with the water. The song revolves around one of Clinton's fictional characters, Sir Nose, who hates water and states he is too cool to swim. 'I can't swim, I never could swim, I never will swim,' he proudly boasts.

Sadly, Clinton's observations are somewhat on point. African-Americans have participated and made great accomplishments in other non-traditional sports (golf, tennis, wrestling). However, in the sport of swimming and diving, the progress has been slow. There have been no African-Americans inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and no African-American has ever won an Olympic medal in swimming or diving. There has never been an African-American on the U.S. Olympic swimming or diving team.

'The late Chris Silva would have been the first African-American to represent the United States,' says local swim coach Leonard Horne. 'He was on the 1980 Olympic team but the United States boycotted the Olympics in Moscow in protest of the Soviet Union's involvement in Afghanistan.'

Three members of the Central High School swim team have aspirations of one day making the U.S. swim and diving Olympic team. Seventeen-year-old senior Albert Lowe, 17-year-old junior Virgil Taylor, and 16-year-old sophomore Joseph Hathaway understand the challenges that face them in their trek to become highly trained athletes who can compete at the Olympic level.

But the young athletes not only face obstacles in the water, they also have to deal with challenges outside of the pool -- the lure of street culture, coping with broken families and overcoming a chaotic educational system.

The Kansas City, Mo., School District (KCMSD) devised a plan to turn fledgling athletes into Olympic-caliber champions. The district created a program called 'Classical Greek,' which focused on enhancing the mind and building the body.

But the program was cut after seven years. Lowe, Taylor, and Hathaway have weathered the storm of budget cuts. Their commitment remains to advance in a sport in which African-Americans have not traditionally gravitated toward and to excel at the highest level of competition.

It's 3 o'clock on a typical winter afternoon. School is out. Most of the 1,200 students who attend Central Computers Unlimited High School (the current name), in the heart of the urban core, have gone home. A few students remain to participate in after-school activities. In the gymnasium the boys basketball team practices under the leadership of legendary coach Jack Bush, who has produced some of the area's best ballers for 30 years. The players dazzle onlookers with spectacular dunks and three-point shots.

In the natatorium the atmosphere is the different. There is no rah-rah hysteria. It's quiet, almost as if the pool facility were empty. Taylor is stretching his thin angular body, while Lowe and Hathaway, both short but muscular, work on perfecting their starts on the blocks. They explode off of the starting blocks and enter the water barely creating a splash. They repeat the starting exercise until their coach, Stacy Berry, walks over and tells them to begin their warm-up laps. Lowe and Hathaway begin churning out laps, moving through the water like dolphins.

Choosing to swim competitively has bought the three young men ridicule among their peers. Swimming, as a sport, is typically shunned by many African-Americans who have little understanding or respect for its rigors. This lack of knowledge about the sport has fed the ignorance.

"A lot of students say that swimming is a gay sport," says Lowe. "They say we are gay because we have to wear Speedos. But I don't care because it just motivates me to keep my body fit. Plus, the girls like the way we look in them."

Despite the ridicule from peers, Lowe and Hathaway stick to their swimming goals and Taylor continues to defy gravity with his spectacular dives. The Central team practices every day for two and half hours. The three teens often leave practice at Central, and head to the Roeland Park Aquatics Center in Roeland Park, Kan., for more training time.

"I often practice twice a day," says Lowe. "I gotta do it to get better."

Hathaway also double-dips and Taylor puts in extra work with noted diving specialist Tom "Dr. Dive" Hairabedian, considered the area's top diving coach. The 75-year-old War World II veteran still dives and has won 110 national and seven world titles in master diving.