This summer, seven girls and one boy from the Otters swim team at the Minneapolis downtown YWCA will take on perhaps the greatest challenge of their swimming careers: as a relay team, the group will cross the English Channel. At the same time, the young swimmers, ages 13 to 16, are taking on another challenge: shedding light on unequal swimming opportunities for some people of color.
“Minnesota has the highest drowning disparity rate [between] the African American community [and whites] in the country,” says Ellen Cleary, one of the six YWCA master swimmers who will also cross the channel this summer. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, African Americans in Minnesota are twice as likely to drown as white people. Why? In part because swimming lessons are simply too pricey for some families to afford.
“I want to do things to help out people,” says Keelin Nave, 14. “We are swimming to call attention to this problem in Minnesota, and we are raising money to help.” Through online donations (YWCAMpls.org/channel), T-shirt sales, and other fundraisers, the team hopes to raise at least $20,000 for swim scholarships and lifeguard training.
There will be considerable dangers along the way.
The distance across the Channel is about 22 miles. But with winds and currents, the actually swimming distance is more like 25 miles. The kids will also need to get acclimated to colder water – about 60 degrees – and hypothermia is a real danger.
Otter Coach Dave Cameron will ride in a boat alongside the swimmers, watching for signs of hypothermia and dehydration.
Each athlete will swim for an hour straight, and probably swim two stints during the crossing. No wetsuit. No help. The team hopes to make the crossing in about 16 hours.
“I’m a little nervous because I heard that there are jellyfish in the English Channel,” says Grete Wilt, 14. “But people who can’t swim are going to be just as nervous about jumping into a swimming pool.”
For Wilt, helping people doesn’t stop after the relay swim. “I want to become a certified swim instructor and teach kids how to swim,” she says. “For me, that would be the most rewarding experience of all.”
