Why are there fcukall black swimmers in the Olympics?

BattleCorp

I'm not trying to be funny here but why are there so few successful black swimmers?

They are successful at lots of sports but why not swimming?

Is it something genetic, a dislike for the sport, cultural reasons etc?

Genuinely curious.

Allinall

BattleCorp wrote: »

I'm not trying to be funny here but why are there so few successful black swimmers?

They are successful at lots of sports but why not swimming?

Is it something genetic, a dislike for the sport, cultural reasons etc?

Genuinely curious.

Lack of facilities in their home countries.

jimmy blevins

They'll dissolve in the chlorine.

sundodger5

The same reason they are excellent athletes. Their bones are more dense.

dudara

Seriously - probably mainly due to genetics and natural fit to swimming.

razorblunt

Eric the Eel scared them off.

Same reason you don't have many British lads called Eddie doing the Ski Jump at the Winter Olympics.

GLaDOS

It's due to centre of gravity, White people have a lower centre of gravity more suited to swimming. Conversely black people's higher centre of gravity suits sprinting.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/7884135/Centre-of-gravity-theory-for-dominance-of-black-sprinters-and-white-swimmers.html

Jawgap

A combination of cultural, sporting, physiological and economic issues.....which is also why there are very few black hockey players, equestrians, cyclists etc at the Olympics.

Alf Veedersane

Allinall wrote: »

Lack of facilities in their home countries.

There are a few pools in the U.S.

Jawgap

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

There are a few pools in the U.S.

Yeah, but you have to learn to swim first and African American communities have low participation in learning to swim classes and consequently more rate their swimming abilities as poor.....because even where you have pools lessons have to be paid for.

Collie D

MrDiyFan wrote: »

a good lot train at blackpool in the UK

How old are you?

Alf Veedersane

Jawgap wrote: »

Yeah, but you have to learn to swim first and African American communities have low participation in learning to swim classes and consequently more rate their swimming abilities as poor.....because even where you have pools lessons have to be paid for.

I'm not disagreeing but the point seemed to suggest the reason is primarily poor countries with no pools.

There's a lot more to it than that. You could even include physiological factors.

Laika123

BattleCorp wrote: »

I'm not trying to be funny here but why are there so few successful black swimmers?

They are successful at lots of sports but why not swimming?

Is it something genetic, a dislike for the sport, cultural reasons etc?

Genuinely curious.

Their bones are denser and not good swimmers, well thats what I was told years ago when I asked the same question.

On a related issue, Why are the Irish so bad at swimming?

At least there's a physical reason why black people don't tend to be good swimmers. But what's our excuse?

pablo128

Why don't pakistani's play soccer?
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.Because every time they get a corner they open a convenience store!:pac:

Laika123

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

On a related issue, Why are the Irish so bad at swimming?

At least there's a physical reason why black people don't tend to be good swimmers. But what's our excuse?

What was that swimmer a few years ago, Michelle Smith, actually she was caught taking stimulants.

Calahonda52

Michelle, ma belle
These are words that go together well
My Michelle
Michelle, ma belle
Sont des mots qui vont très bien ensemble
Très bien ensemble.
By the ELPO

pablo128

Laika123 wrote: »

What was that swimmer a few years ago, Michelle Smith, actually she was caught taking stimulants.

Another reason in Ireland I believe is a lack of 50m swimming pools. Our pools are not long enough.

Collie D

Laika123 wrote: »

What was that swimmer a few years ago, Michelle Smith, actually she was caught taking stimulants.

Don't think she was actually caught for doping but had a urine test that suggested she should either lay off the booze or it was tampered with.

511

dudara wrote: »

Seriously - probably mainly due to genetics and natural fit to swimming.

Interesting comment from someone who posted this:

This bears an appalling similarity to historical claims around "the Negro" and how his supposed inferiority to the white man was due to his genetics.

Alf Veedersane

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

On a related issue, Why are the Irish so bad at swimming?

At least there's a physical reason why black people don't tend to be good swimmers. But what's our excuse?

Well, the Irish are the blacks of Europe.

jimmy blevins

Our greatest Olympian is a swimmer.

Your Face

I don't know - slavery?
Just blame white people.
Yay!

CruelCoin

BattleCorp wrote: »

I'm not trying to be funny here but why are there so few successful black swimmers?

They are successful at lots of sports but why not swimming?

Is it something genetic, a dislike for the sport, cultural reasons etc?

Genuinely curious.

For the same reason why there are so few successful white sprinters/runners?

Different physiological attributes i imagine.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Studies show it is mostly a socioeconomic issue but greater bone density is also a factor. (Wagner, Heyward et al.)

DopeTech

BattleCorp wrote: »

I'm not trying to be funny here but why are there so few successful black swimmers?

They are successful at lots of sports but why not swimming?

Is it something genetic, a dislike for the sport, cultural reasons etc?

Genuinely curious.

Running is more their thing!

Joe prim

Aniya Ripe Stairway wrote: »

Studies show it is mostly a socioeconomic issue but greater bone density is also a factor. (Wagner, Heyward et al.)

Very racist calling black people dense.

511

511 wrote: »

Interesting comment from someone who posted this:

Ah here, there's a big difference in stating an established fact (the skeletons of black people are heavier, their bones are denser) and saying they are inferior... nobody here said the latter.

I was googling this to make sure the bone-density issue isn't an urban myth (it isn't) , and came across another interesting fact.

If you're from a poorer background, are athletic, and have the body-type that is associated with strong swimmers (lean, long arms & torso) you're probably more likely to pursue a financially lucrative sport like basketball. Swimming is not very lucrative. Black people tend to be poorer than whites, so that may explain why black athletic children tend not to favour swimming over lucrative sports.

Of course there are probably also cultural reasons at play, to do with a lack of black swimming role models.

Except this guy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rqI8xwXVac

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rqI8xwXVac

Jawgap

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

I'm not disagreeing but the point seemed to suggest the reason is primarily poor countries with no pools.

There's a lot more to it than that. You could even include physiological factors.

I did in post #9

If it was lack of infrastructure that would explain it for certain countries, but other so called developed countries - the US, France, Oz etc - have world class facilities, talent identification programmes, elite development etc and rarely do you see a black swimmer come through at national level.....

.....in the US, participation in swimming is lowest among black communities because lessons have to be paid for and other sports, with lower barriers to entry, are culturally more embedded.

On the physiological side, there's an argument that suggests that genetically black athletes develop much greater muscle densities which are great for explosive sprinting and power, but that decreases buoyancy which makes swimming a bit more difficult - the margin involved is not much, but sufficient to prevent many from making it to elite status.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Joe prim wrote: »

Very racist calling black people dense.

I didn't and neither did the researchers. Trying to be funny? Then learn the distinction between the terms used first.

Calahonda52

jimmy blevins wrote: »

Our greatest Olympian is a swimmer.

So is
Our greatest swimmer an Olympian.?

Arcade_Tryer

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

If you're from a poorer background, are athletic, and have the body-type that is associated with strong swimmers (lean, long arms & torso) you're probably more likely to pursue a financially lucrative sport like basketball. Swimming is not very lucrative. Black people tend to be poorer than whites, so that may explain why black athletic children tend not to favour swimming over lucrative sports.

That is an excellent point. Young black people don't have the same luxury as their white counterparts by and large to pursue niche sports and Olympic sporting events like Swimming. The best black athletes in the US go for the monetary reward in sports such as basketball and americna football. If LeBron, Kobe et all had devoted their lives to swimming or track events in their early lives I'm sure they'd have a trophy cabinet full of olympic medals.

gw80

Motorsports too, with the exception of Lewis Hamilton who's half white, especially motorcycle racing,
Maybe it's just not their thing,

K-9

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

On a related issue, Why are the Irish so bad at swimming?

At least there's a physical reason why black people don't tend to be good swimmers. But what's our excuse?

Used to be lack of facilities anyway, think we've improved a bit in that regard.

s4uv3

On a continent where clean water shortages kill a heck of a lot of people, you could see why swimming about merrily in the stuff may not be the most popular sport.
I've no idea about black people in other parts of the world, could very possibly be fairly attributed to socio-economic and physiological factors.

K-9

Maybe in the US it's a bit like Golf as well, there has been no massive rise in black players reaching the top despite Tiger Woods success. Probably societal and economic stuff going on as well as the genetic thing.

VincePP

jimmy blevins wrote: »

Our greatest Olympian is a swimmer.

I know Ronnie Delany personally - He's a crap swimmer.

Jawgap

Calahonda52 wrote: »

So is
Our greatest swimmer an Olympian.?

Our greatest Olympian was a 'priest'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmPveYFZCKU

Arcade_Tryer

K-9 wrote: »

Maybe in the US it's a bit like Golf as well, there has been no massive rise in black players reaching the top despite Tiger Woods success. Probably societal and economic stuff going on as well as the genetic thing.

There's no probably about that one to be honest.

Son Of A Vidic

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

On a related issue, Why are the Irish so bad at swimming?

At least there's a physical reason why black people don't tend to be good swimmers. But what's our excuse?

What's our excuse?

Simple confusion really, because instead of going swimming, a lot of the Irish just end up swimming in drink.

K-9

Arcade_Tryer wrote: »

There's no probably about that one to be honest.

Societal influence is a big thing too, look at South African rugby. Change can happen but it takes time and a lot of effort. Even here rugby has reached out to areas GAA and soccer used to dominate or in Ulster religious attitudes.

Wigglepuppy

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

On a related issue, Why are the Irish so bad at swimming?

At least there's a physical reason why black people don't tend to be good swimmers. But what's our excuse?

Do "we" need an excuse though? I mean, why aren't there French swimmers of note or gymnasts of note from the Faroe Islands? Ireland does not have Olympic sized pools too.

Elliott S

For historical reasons in the US, far fewer black people swim than white people. Interesting article about it here:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-11172054

Think that's slowly changing.

As for other countries, I don't know. There's less than ten swimming powers in the world and some of them have low black populations probably.

Junkyard Tom

How come African countries are so bad at producing good skiers?

RACISM.

darkpagandeath

Junkyard Tom wrote: »

How come African countries are so bad at producing good skiers?

RACISM.

zuutroy

Read this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Sports-Gene-Extraordinary-Athletic-Performance/dp/161723012X

Fascinating stuff from start to finish.

pablo128

pablo128 wrote: »

Another reason in Ireland I believe is a lack of 50m swimming pools. Our pools are not long enough.

Wigglepuppy wrote: »

Ireland does not have Olympic sized pools too.

In the republic there are at least three Olympic-standard 50m swimming pools: National Aquatic Centre in Dublin; UCD; UL. There are also private 50-metre pools such as West Wood in Dublin. In the North there is at least one Olympic standard pool in Bangor, while Magherafelt has a 50 metre pool. There could be more that I'm unaware of.

Junkyard Tom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrK_HVGOnUo

764dak

African countries are not that good at the Olympics.

wakka12

Allinall wrote: »

Lack of facilities in their home countries.

Are all black people from slums or rural villages? There are millions of black europeans, north americans and south americans living in countries with good swimming facilities , and Im sure theres quite a few pools in sub saharan africa as well..

Junkyard Tom

764dak wrote: »

African countries are not that good at the Olympics.

Caribbeans, Americans, French, British, Dutch and others with African ancestry seem to do exceptionally well though.