Chapter 1535 Swimming is a sport for the rich
Xiao Peng looked at the puzzled looks of the crowd and explained, "In fact, in the eyes of many black people here in the United States, swimming is considered a 'dangerous sport'."
"Why do you say that?" Aisha asked puzzledly, "In my hometown, there are basically no black people who can't swim!"
Xiao Peng said, "Let me reiterate, I'm talking about black people in America, not those in Africa or Europe. Let me give you a simple example: In 2011, a tragedy occurred in Louisiana: six black teenagers tragically drowned. Their parents, standing on the shore, could only watch helplessly as their children were swallowed by the water because none of them could swim."
"How could this happen?" exclaimed van der Laupe.
Xiao Peng took out his phone, did a quick search, and handed it to Van der Laupe. "Look, these two photos are a very vivid comparison."
Everyone looked at Xiao Peng's phone, which contained two photos of a swimming pool. The first one was titled "White Pool Party", and everyone, regardless of gender, was having a great time in the water. The second one was titled "Black Pool Party", and all the black people in the photo were sitting by the pool. There was no one in the huge pool.
"Is this also caused by racial discrimination?" Kaiser asked curiously.
Xiao Peng snapped his fingers. "Right, you hit the nail on the head. It was probably around the 1920s and 1930s when America started to get into a swimming craze. Over two thousand swimming pools were built across the country, but without exception, they were all built in white areas. At the time, Black people weren't allowed into white areas, so how could they swim there? Later, despite the equal rights movement, racial segregation in some areas of public swimming pools was eliminated, allowing Black people into the pools. However, this caused a frenzy of riots among white people. They beat up Black people who entered the pools, poured thumbtacks and bleach into the pools, and in 1964, a hotel manager named James Bullock saw a Black person swimming in his hotel's pool and directly poured hydrochloric acid into the pool! Until the late 1970s, many beaches and pools here had signs saying 'Whites Only.' Although there are no signs now, discrimination in swimming pools still exists to this day."
"It's for this reason that many black Americans consider swimming a dangerous sport and simply don't learn it. They also pass on this fear to the next generation, and they won't even send their own children swimming. How can children swim if their parents can't? Of course, this phenomenon will definitely change in the future as more wealthy black people become wealthy, but in the short term? Forget it! Aisha, I guess those white people are just curious about you swimming in the water."
Bruch said, "Boss, I heard that black people are not good at swimming because of their race!"
Xiao Peng snapped his fingers. "That's not entirely wrong, but it's not entirely true. First, we have to admit that racial differences do exist. For example, in endurance and speed events, Black people do have an advantage. And when it comes to swimming, considering factors like muscle density, White people do have an innate advantage. But that's definitely not the whole story. Look, racially speaking, we Asians aren't the most suitable for swimming. We might even be behind Black people due to our relatively short limbs. Yet, in the Olympics, we Asians have snatched many gold medals from White people in the swimming pool, and the number is constantly increasing. Have you considered why?"
Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads.
Xiao Peng gave the answer: "It's not that black people can't achieve good results in the swimming pool. For example, Nesti, the 100-meter butterfly champion from Suriname at the 1988 Olympics, Manuel, the women's 100-meter swimming champion at the Rio Olympics, Karen Jones, who has twice won the 4x100 freestyle relay championship, and Atkinson, the Jamaican athlete who broke the world record twice, have all proved that black people can win championships in the swimming pool after training. But why are there fewer black people who are good at sports in the swimming pool than Asians? To put it bluntly, it's one word: money! If you want to achieve good results, you must undergo professional and systematic swimming training, which is very expensive, and We have to admit: whether here, in Europe, or even in Africa, black people are relatively poor, and not everyone can afford such high costs. I wonder if you still remember Robert Habut, the Ethiopian athlete who swam the men's 100-meter race at the Rio Olympics? The one nicknamed "Habut the Whale." He was 176 cm tall and weighed 81 kg. He didn't even finish the halfway mark when the first place finisher had already finished, but no one laughed at him because there isn't even a standard 50-meter swimming pool in all of Ethiopia! And there are many countries like that! Can they achieve results?
Kaiser was shocked and said, "A country doesn't have a standard swimming pool?"
Xiao Peng laughed and said, "What's so strange about that? You've definitely never been to Africa. Aisha should understand what I mean. Besides, swimming is actually a true 'rich man's sport'."
"Isn't swimming just a matter of swimming in a swimming pool?" Kaiser asked puzzledly.
Xiao Peng shook his head. "Let's talk about the swimming pool first. It needs to be at least an international standard pool, right? Fifty meters long, at least 21 meters wide, and at least 1.8 meters deep. It must be equipped with a professional starting platform and a timer. And then there's the swimming pool construction, the annual water, electricity, heating, water purification equipment, and ongoing maintenance costs... Oh, and don't forget the land cost. The construction of such a venue alone would cost at least several million euros, and the annual maintenance costs would be over a million. Do you think anyone can afford that?"
Kaiser took a deep breath and stopped talking.
Xiao Peng continued, "If you want to achieve results, you need a professional coaching team, masseuses, fitness trainers, nutritionists, doctors... How much does all that cost? You need a swimsuit for swimming, right? A professional competition swimsuit starts at around 1,000 Euros and wears out very quickly. If you train intensely, you'll need two or three a month! So unless you have a family with a mine, sponsorship, or institutional training, the average person really can't afford the cost of swimming training... And that's not even the worst part!"
"Any other questions?" Kaiser asked in confusion.
Xiao Peng said, "The most important thing is: swimmers' income is too low! I'm not kidding you, but swimmers' income basically comes from endorsements. Let me tell you this, if there were no endorsements, if a swimmer wanted to support themselves by winning prize money from swimming competitions? That would be basically impossible."
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