Why are there so very very few negro swimmers? They are superb at athletics so why not in swimming?

Question

Why are there so very very few negro swimmers? They are superb at athletics so why not in swimming?

Answer 1

Good Pools cost money and not many African nations have very much money.

Also in the US swimming is a bit of a rich mans sport hence not many black swimmers.

Answer 2

They don't like to swim naked.

Answer 3

This years guy was a one man demolition crew for the relay team. He almost cost us a medal til we pulled it out by .01 seconds. The guy was never heard from again. Good riddance.  

Answer 4

Thank god for that!  I would much rather watch them running than swimming.

Answer 5

it is their body shape, it is more adept for  land than water  

Answer 6

When I was growing up people said it was because that the bone composition of black people differed from white people making them better at running and worse at swimming.  However that view is generally now believed to be complete rubbish, as shown by the recent success of a number of black swimmers.

Far simpler reasons could be that swimming as a sport requires expensive coaching and facilities which many African and Carribean countries do not have.  Secondly, in western countries which have a sizeable black minority (the USA for example), swimming is generally a middle class activity that again requires expensive coaching to meet success.  As the percentage of black americans in the middle income bracket grows so will, I believe, the number of black swimmers.  A final reason may be cultural attitudes to sports with, for example, running being seen a popular sport by black communities in Western Countries and as the sport of choice in countries where the population are black.  As swimming increases in popularity amongst these groups this will also increase the number of black swimmers.

Answer 7

cause they dint swim in the slave days they ran, so they dont have the natural skills