Cullen Jones gjørdist svimjari, tí hann einaferð mundi druknað

Amerikanski OL-gullvinnarin Cullen Jones var herfyri í Chicago við “Make a Splash” tiltakinum hjá USA Swimming Foundation og ConocoPhillips, at greiða frá hví hann eisini heldur at svimjing er so alneyðugt. Sjálvur byrjaði hann tíðliga at svimja, eftir einaferð í einum vatnlandi at hava verið um at drukna. Sí chicagodefender.com

[Picture courtesy of myuzeme, cc by-sa]

“Swimming is fun and everyone sees it as being fun. But we have to see it as more than just being fun – it’s also a life skill”, sigur Jones um hví hann heldur at øll eiga at fáa undirvísing í svimjing. “Parents need to take a big role in teaching their kids that the only way you can be sure your kid can swim is if they’ve had lessons.”

Hann fortelur eisini um hendingina í vatnlandinum, at tað var næstan so at eingin uppdagaði nakað, netupp tí at drukning ikki altíð umfatar plask og róp um hjálp. “I didn’t make a noise,” fortelur Jones. “I came down the slide, hit the water, flipped upside down and was under water. But no one knew I was under until they looked around and didn’t see me. They finally saw me and grabbed me. Most of the time it’s really silent.”

Tí er tað eisini sambært honum so alneyðugt, at børn læra at svimja. Hetta er ikki ein spurningur um at øll skulu gerast meistarar í svimjing, men um at alt ov nógv børn ikki eru grundleggjandi trygg í vatni, og tó hava falska trygd um at tey halda seg duga at svimja. “It’s important to realize that this (taking swimming lessons) is not an ongoing thing,” sigur Jones. “I made a career out of swimming – everyone doesn’t have to do that, but take the time to learn.”

Cullen Jones er av afrikanskari ætt, sum er so gott sum eindømi í amerikanskari svimjing. Hagtølini eru ræðandi hjá amerikanarum, at 70% av teimum av afrikanskari ætt og 58 av teimum av spanskari ætt annaðhvørt slettis ikki duga at svimja, ella bara eitt sindur.