MINNEAPOLIS — 64 percent.
That's the number of Black Americans who don't know how to swim, according to estimates. KARE 11 Sunrise Anchor Jason Hackett is one of them.
Swim instructor Dr. Ayanna Rakhu said there are many reasons as to why Black people have lower rates of swimming proficiency.
"We spend a lot of time and energy on our hair, so getting it wet and dealing with chlorine is a big issue," she said. Generational trauma… any trauma that we've had. Also access to water or pools in general, not having a pool in your neighborhood, not knowing where to go to find a place to swim."
It leaves her with an important question:
"How do we get people to swim? We know that we're not swimming, but what do we do to change that statistic?" Rakhu said.
The V3 Center in north Minneapolis aims to provide a traditionally underserved community with the opportunity to take that first step. It was time for Sunrise's Jason Hackett to finally take the plunge with his first professional swimming lesson ever.
Lesson one — breathing is key.
"Once you get breathing down and how to breathe comfortably in and around water, that's like 80 percent of being comfortable and confident in the water," Rakhu said.
Once Jason established that, it was all about movement.
"A lot of times we spend time thinking about being horizontal, like swimming laps or doing a certain stroke," Rakhu said. "But learning to move your body vertically in the water is a good skill to have."
So while Jason won't be swimming laps at the Olympics any time soon, it was a good start. Rakhu said that's the point. It's all about taking that scary - but rewarding - first step.
"Once we teach these basics, whether you're 6 months or 90-years-old, you're gonna learn it and be able to use those tools," Rakhu said.
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