(WXYZ) — In honor of Black History Month, the Michigan-based Goldfish Foundation held a swim meet on Saturday at Seaholm High School. The goal of the meet was to promote diversity and raise awareness for parents to enroll children into life-saving swim lessons.
Metro Detroit's first-ever dual swim meet, the MAROON Cup, was held in Birmingham, featuring Seaholm High School versus U-D Jesuit. Among the young athletes, in attendance was also a four-time Olympic medalist and the first African American swimmer to hold a world record, Cullen Jones.
"What I have been able to become for young swimmers ... it's a gift every day," said Jones.
At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Jones set the world record for the freestyle relay team. In total, Jones has 13 U.S. medals, including seven golds at major international competitions, making him a role model for many, including Kaden Patterson.
"I'd be able to learn from his experiences being a Black man in a mostly white sport and from there, I'd be able to take what he learned as he got older and apply them right now," said Kaden.
The 14-year-old is part of the University of Detroit Jesuit High School swim team.
"I mean even in this meet, how many kids of color do you see?" asked Faraz Javed, 7 News Detroit reporter.
"Not many, even on our team right now, it's only about five or six in total, and it's the same with many teams throughout this league YMCA, USA and that's something that just needs to change," said Kaden.
That's why the foundation's ambassador, Jones, aims to promote swimming among the youth.
According to the CDC, Black children are nearly eight times more likely to drown.
"And you could have been part of that statistic," said Faraz.
"Yes..." replied Jones.
Jones was 5 years old when he nearly drowned at a water park.
"I ended up being underwater for more than 30 seconds, they say a child can have brain damage being underwater for more than 30. They had to pull me out, fully resuscitate me, but my parents were like 'OK never again, we're getting in the swim lesson,'" said Jones.
Hearing such horror stories encouraged Natalie Jones-Brown to enroll her son Kaden into a swim program when he was 5.
"Water safety should be the top priority so that your kid is confident in the water and safe, and then like with Kaden, that became his passion, and then we just kept going," said Brown.
Kaden says swimming has made him a better person and grateful for his mom.
"It's made me realize all the things my mom has done for me. 'Cause it's not just me waking up early in the morning at 5 a.m. She's there waking me up, [to] take me to practice," said Kaden.
Meanwhile, the founder of The Goldfish Foundation, Chris McCuiston, aims to introduce swim programs to underserved communities, overcoming any roadblocks.
"Potentially financial, some of it has to do with the location. Some of them may be awareness, probably ... a stigma out there that we just don't learn to swim, I need to change that, because everyone needs to learn regardless," said McCuiston.
To learn more about the foundation, click here.
