Times of the Islands Summer 2016

To the Europeans in the Caribbean at the time, this
survival story was not entirely surprising, as the swimming
ability of Africans was well known. Early explorers
of the West African coast 500 years ago often came
across amazingly proficient swimmers — an astonishing
sight because so few Europeans back then could swim
at all. The explorer Pieter de Marees said about Africans
from the Gold Coast that their freestyle allowed them to,
“swim very fast, generally easily outdoing people of our
nation in swimming and diving.”
Bruce Wigo, CEO of the International Swimming
Hall of Fame in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, says evidence
shows Africans had developed a highly proficient front
crawl stroke with side breathing and perfect high elbow
arm recovery. He notes wryly, “Africans were doing
the Australian crawl before the Australian crawl was
invented.”
Slaveholders quickly recognized the unique aquatic
capabilities of newly arrived slaves in the Caribbean and
regularly used them to dive for pearls and recover treasure
from shipwrecks. Indeed, the Europeans, and later,
Americans, were so impressed that they sometimes had
slaves teach them and their children how to swim properly
and efficiently, a skill that had eluded them since
medieval times.
In a tragic irony of history, the ability to swim by
people of African descent was lost over time in the West
Indies with a few notable exceptions, such as lobster
Ianthe Pratt Primary School students learn to swim with SURFside
Ocean Academy lifesaving instructor Paul.
and sponge divers in the Turks & Caicos and elsewhere.
Still, while many visitors to these Islands joyfully plunge
into the clear turquoise water and glide with confidence
without a second thought, for far too many residents the
ocean has become something to avoid.
In fact, it has become a cliché to express amazement
that so many people living on islands surrounded by
water can’t swim. While to a degree true and unacceptable,
there is nothing to be gained by dwelling on the
idea. Instead, why not reverse history and reinvent the
culture of swimming?
MORGAN LUKER
These proud high school students in North Caicos finished a four-day Swim & Survive course at Sandy Point beach. Pictured also are TCI Swim
Federation swimmers and teachers Ben Stubenberg and Kevin Bethel. (Not pictured, Chloe Zimmermann.)
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