Cullen Jones, a member of the victorious Olympic USA 4x100m freestyle team in Beijing, has joined forces with USA Swimming Foundation and ConocoPhillips for Six-city Event Series to Promote Water Safety. "Make a Splash with Cullen Jones" kicked off in Houston today, its aim to promote life-saving, learn-to-swim programmes.
The event is backed by long-term swim sponsor in the US, ConocoPhillips. The first African American to hold a world long-course record, as a member of the USA sprint free quartet, Jones felt moved to front the series when he learned what USA Swimming described as "the sobering fact that African-American children drown at a rate almost three times higher than Caucasian children in similar age groups".
Jones will tour the USA promoting the availability of low to no-cost swimming lessons to give children "access to life-saving swimming skills, regardless of their ethnic or economic background". 

In addition to Houston, he will visit Indianapolis, Seattle, Kansas City, Denver and Los Angeles. USA Swimming announced: "There, Jones will meet with community leaders, parents and children to deliver a stark message – the ability to swim is a life-and-death issue that requires immediate action from parents and kids. He also will focus on increasing funding for learn-to-swim initiatives across the country by soliciting donations to the Make a Splash/Sponsor a Swim Lesson program.Â
"Sponsor a Swim Lesson is an online giving program that provides the public an opportunity to help fund free or low-cost swim lessons for kids who otherwise may not have the opportunity to learn.

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Jones said: "I didn’t learn how to swim to become an Olympic champion. I learned how to swim, because when I was five years old, I almost drowned. Every summer these tragedies happen and we talk about how they could have been prevented; yet every year the statistics remain the same. I am committed to a real solution and with the help of USA Swimming Foundation’s Make a Splash initiative and ConocoPhillips, we can do it."
According to research carried out by USA Swimming in 2008, six out of 10 African-American children have not learned to swim, nearly twice as many as their Caucasian counterparts, while 56 percent of Hispanic and Latino children are unable to swim. 


"Drowning statistics, coupled with our research, provide some clear answers to the question, ‘how do we cure the drowning epidemic?" said Chuck Wielgus, USA Swimming’s executive director. "We’ve identified some barriers that keep kids from learning to swim, and now we are ready to work on overcoming them. Through Make a Splash, we will educate parents on the importance of learning to swim, and put forth a positive role model with Cullen Jones. Most importantly, and because of the financial support of our partner, ConocoPhillips, we can provide opportunities for kids to become water-safe through access to free or low-cost swimming lessons."Â
Jim Mulva, ConocoPhillips chairman and CEO, added: "At ConocoPhillips we believe we are defined by what we pass on to the next generation. Safety has always been a core value in our company, and the Make a Splash initiative is an ongoing commitment to increase the number of children who are able to swim as well as educate our youth on water safety. ConocoPhillips is proud to work with Cullen Jones and USA Swimming on this united effort."
For more information, or to donate or sponsor a swim lesson for a child in need, go to www.makeasplash.org.



Jones wore Nike last year, and then switched to the Speedo LZR that stole a march on rivals in the first round of suit wars that were well underway by the time the Olympic Games came round in Beijing. The FINA list of approved suits has no NIke products on it. The big sports equipment player has abandoned the pool - for now, perhaps. By January 1, 2010, should Nike wish, there would be nothing to prevent them returning to the race pool with a range that is competitive in a sport that no longer allows performance enhancement in suits. A big market the American one - and it starts with kids.
Meanwhile, great to see Jones in the headlines for reasons other than the type of suit he is wearing.
