DETROIT – Over half of the adults in the United States do not know how to swim. According to the Red Cross, 54% of adults lack basic swim safety knowledge.
My colleague, Local 4′s Crime and Safety expert, Darnell Blackburn, is among them.
He recently revealed he never learned to swim. Watching his two youngest children take swim classes recently changed Blackburn’s heart.
Recently, Blackburn began taking swim lessons at the Boll Family YMCA in Detroit. He shared with me why he’d never learned to swim.
“I never learned how to swim as a kid,” Blackburn said. “It’s essential for me to learn, even at this stage. I’ve got two young children who are in swim lessons, and, you know, it’s super important. I want to make sure that they’re safe because they are still learning.”
Blackburn said he wanted to ensure he had the skills to keep himself and his family safe if something happened in the pool or on a beach.
Blackburn’s youngest sons are three years old and five years old. He admitted he was a tad nervous about taking adult swim lessons.
“Quite honestly, when this opportunity arose, I didn’t want to be looked at, like boy, ‘You don’t know how to swim,’” Blackburn said. “You were a cop! You know? That embarrassment.”
Those vulnerable feelings, Blackburn said, were harsh yet honest.
Over the next seven weeks, he will work with YMCA Aquatics Director Krystalyn Rivera. He will learn basic swim lessons, safety techniques, and survival skills.
“I come from a family of non-swimmers,” Blackburn said. “So, that was something that we weren’t taught or encouraged to do. So, as I got older, it’s something that’s super important because it’s so dangerous.”
Growing up in inner-city Detroit, Blackburn said learning to swim wasn’t a priority. Access to pools in and around his old neighborhood wasn’t great.
“On the west side of Detroit where I grew up, I didn’t know anybody that had a pool,” Blackburn said. So, if you don’t have access, you don’t do it.”
That’s where our experiences around swimming and pools connected in some ways. I shared my own near-drowning experience with Blackburn.
It happened when I was in elementary school. I was in summer camp on a field trip to State Park Pool. I recalled trying to get to an island in the center of the deeper end of the pool.
I didn’t know how to swim. The water covered my head to the point I could not jump high enough to keep my head above the surface.
I recalled waking up to a group of people standing over me. My mother immediately enrolled me in swim safety classes. I received my swim certification weeks after that incident.
Now, it’s good to help support a colleague and friend who is on his own journey toward becoming a skilled swimmer.
“I want to be able to get in a pool or be at a hotel with my family,” Blackburn said. “Or be at a beach and be able to swim and not be tethered to the shallow end of a pool.”
Blackburn proves that no matter your age, all it takes is a little motivation to get your toes wet and tackle something new.
“I’m here,” Blackburn said, “At an older age too!”
There are a variety of organizations offering free or low-cost swim safety lessons in communities across metro Detroit.
You can find a list of partners assisting Huron-Clinton Metro Parks in offering swim classes by clicking here.
Click here for information about the YMCA Detroit Swims program.
As you search for access to free swim classes, we noticed that spaces for many programs are limited and fill up fast.
Consider calling some of the organizations listed to inquire about dates and registration for future swim classes.