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Magic happens when kids and adults learn to swim. Tragedy can strike if they don't.

At a swim meet just outside St. Louis, heads turned when a team of young swimmers walked through the rec center with their parents in tow. A supportive mom kept her eye on the clock while the Makos Swim Team athletes tucked their natural curls, braids, and locs into yellow swimming caps. In the bleachers, […]

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Magic happens when kids and adults learn to swim. Tragedy can strike if they don't.

At a swim meet just outside St. Louis, heads turned when a team of young swimmers walked through the rec center with their parents in tow.

A supportive mom kept her eye on the clock while the Makos Swim Team athletes tucked their natural curls, braids, and locs into yellow swimming caps. In the bleachers, spectators whispered about the team’s presence at the pool in Centralia, Illinois — as they do at almost every competition.

“They don’t know that we’re listening,” Randella Randell, a swimmer’s mom, later said. “But we’re here to stay. We’re here to represent. We’re going to show you that Black kids know how to swim. We swim, too.”

Randell’s son, Elijah Gilliam, 14, is a member of the Makos’ competitive YMCA and USA Swimming program based in North St. Louis. Almost 40 athletes, ages 4 to 19, swim on the squad, which encourages Black and multiracial kids to participate in the sport. Coached by Terea Goodwin and Torrie Preciado, the team also spreads the word about water safety in their community.

“If we can get everybody to learn how to swim, just that little bit, it would save so many lives,” said Goodwin, a kitchen and bathroom designer by day who is known as Coach T at the pool. “Swimming is life.”

But just like mako sharks, such teams of Black swimmers are rare. Detroit has the Razor Aquatics, Howard University in Washington, D.C., has a team that’s made headlines for winning championships, and some alums from North Carolina A&T’s former swim team created a group to offer water safety classes.

In the past, Black Americans were barred from many public swimming pools. When racial segregation was officially banned, white Americans established private swim clubs that required members to pay a fee that wasn’t always affordable. As a result, swimming remained effectively segregated, and many Black Americans stayed away from pools.

The impact is still felt. More than a third of Black adults report they do not know how to swim, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics, more than twice the rate for adults overall.

Seeing a need in their community, the parents of the Makos swimmers formed the Black Swimmers Alliance at the end of 2023 with a goal of “bridging the gap in aquatic skills,” according to its website. But the group, which offers swim lessons to families of color, is concerned about the flow of grant money dwindling because of the recent federal backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Even so, they are fundraising directly on their own, because lives are being lost.

In late January, a 6-year-old died at a hotel pool in St. Louis. A boy the same age drowned while taking swim lessons at a St. Louis County pool in 2022. And across the river in Hamel, Illinois, a 3-year-old boy drowned in a backyard pool last summer.

Drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 through 4, according to the CDC. Black children and Black adults drown far more often than their white peers.

Members of the Black Swimmers Alliance discussed those statistics before their advocacy work began. They also had to address another issue — many of the adult volunteers and parents with children on the Makos team didn’t know how to swim. Even though their children were swimming competitively, the fear of drowning and the repercussions of history had kept the parents out of the pool.

The Makos athletes also noticed that their parents were timid around water. That’s when their roles reversed. The children started to look out for the grown-ups.

Joseph Johnson, now 14, called out his mom, Connie Johnson, when she tried to give him a few tips about how to improve his performance.

“He was like, ‘Mom, you have no idea,'” the now-55-year-old recalled. “At first, I was offended, but he was absolutely right. I didn’t know how to swim.”

She signed up for lessons with Coach T.

Najma Nasiruddin-Crump and her husband, Joshua Crump, signed up, too. His daughter Kaia Collins-Crump, now 14, had told them she wanted to join the Makos team the first time she saw it. But among the three of them, no one knew how to swim.

Joshua Crump, 38, said he initially felt silly at the lessons, then started to get the hang of it.

“I don’t swim well enough to beat any of the children in a race,” he said with a chuckle.

Nasiruddin-Crump, 33, said she was terrified the first time she jumped in the deep end. “It is the only moment in my life outside of birthing my children that I’ve been afraid of something,” she said. “But once you do it, it’s freedom. It’s pure freedom.”

Mahoganny Richardson, whose daughter Ava is on the team, volunteered to teach more Makos parents how to swim.

She said the work starts outside the pool with a conversation about a person’s experiences with water. She has heard stories about adults who were pushed into pools, then told to sink or swim. Black women were often told to stay out of the water to maintain hairstyles that would swell if their hair got wet.

Bradlin Jacob-Simms, 47, decided to learn how to swim almost 20 years after her family survived Hurricane Katrina. She evacuated the day before the storm hit but said one of her friends survived only because that woman’s brother was able to swim to find help.

“If it wasn’t for him, they would have died,” she said, noting that hundreds did drown.

“That’s the reason why swimming is important to me,” she said. “A lot of times, us as African Americans, we shy away from it. It’s not really in our schools. It’s not really pushed.”

Makos swimmer Rocket McDonald, 13, encouraged his mom, Jamie McDonald, to get back into the water and stick with it. When she was a child, her parents had signed her up for swim lessons, but she never got the hang of it. Her dad was always leery of the water. McDonald didn’t understand why until she read about a race riot at a pool not far from where her dad grew up that happened after St. Louis desegregated public pools in 1949.

“It was a full-circle moment,” McDonald said. “It all makes sense now.”

Now, at 42, McDonald is learning to swim again.

Safety is always a priority for the Makos team. Coach T makes the athletes practice swimming in full clothing as a survival skill.

Years ago, as a lifeguard in Kansas City, Missouri, Coach T pulled dozens of children out of recreational swimming pools who were drowning. Most of them, she said, were Black children who came to cool off but didn’t know how to swim.

“I was literally jumping in daily, probably hourly, getting kids out of every section,” Goodwin said. After repeated rescues, too many to count, she decided to offer lessons.

Swim lessons can be costly. The Black Swimmers Alliance aimed to fund 1,000 free swim lessons by the end of 2025. It had already funded 150 lessons in St. Louis. But when the group looked for grants, the alliance scaled back its goal to 500 lessons, out of caution about what funding would be available.

It’s still committed to helping Black athletes swim competitively throughout their school years and in college.

Most of the time, the Makos swimmers practice in a YMCA pool that doesn’t have starting blocks. Backstroke flags are held in place with fishing wire, and the assistant coach’s husband, José Preciado, used his 3-D printer to make red, regulation 15-meter markers for the team. Once a week, parents drive the team to a different YMCA pool that has starting blocks. That pool is about 5 degrees warmer for its senior patrons’ comfort. Sometimes the young swimmers fuss about the heat, but practicing there helps them prepare for meets.

Parents said white officials have frequently disqualified Makos swimmers. So some of the team parents studied the rules of the sport, and eventually four became officials to diversify the ranks and ensure all swimmers are treated fairly. Still, parents said, that hasn’t stopped occasional racist comments from bystanders and other swimmers at meets.

“Some didn’t think we’d make it this far, not because of who we are but where we’re from,” Goodwin has taught the Makos swimmers to recite. “So we have to show them.”

And this spring, Richardson is offering lessons for Makos parents while their children practice.

“It’s not just about swimming,” Richardson said. “It’s about overcoming something that once felt impossible.”

Kaiser Health NewsThis article was reprinted from khn.org, a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF – the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.

KFF Health News

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Four Crimson Set for 2025 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships

Story Links CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard track & field will once again feature heavily in a high profile competition, as four former and current Crimson will travel to Eugene, Oregon for the 2025 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. Action begins on Thursday, July 31st and concludes on Sunday, Aug. 3. Hayward […]

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard track & field will once again feature heavily in a high profile competition, as four former and current Crimson will travel to Eugene, Oregon for the 2025 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. Action begins on Thursday, July 31st and concludes on Sunday, Aug. 3. Hayward Field will host all the action as Harvard fans can watch live on NBC and Peacock.

One of the most decorated female athletes in United States track & field history, Gabby Thomas ’19 will compete in a pair of events at the USATF Outdoor Championships. Thomas begins her weekend with the first round of the 100m on Thursday, July 31 at 7:07 p.m. eastern standard time. The women’s 100m semifinal begins at 7:20 p.m. EST on Friday, Aug. 1 while the final starts at 10:27 p.m. EST later that evening. The 2024 Paris Olympics gold medalist in the women’s 200m, Thomas will also run the 200m at the USATF Outdoor Championships. The women’s 200m semifinal will run on Sunday, Aug. 3 at 3:32 p.m. EST as the final starts later that day at 5:13 p.m. EST.

Thomas cemented her legacy last summer, winning three gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics. A native of Northampton, Massachusetts, Thomas took home gold in the women’s 200m at the Stade de France with France, following it up with golds in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays. Thomas is only the second American in Olympic to win gold in the 200m, 4x100m relay and the 4x400m relay at the same Olympic Games.

Two Crimson All-Americans will run the women’s 800m at the USATF Outdoor Championships, as junior Sophia Gorriaran and Victoria Bossong ’25 will represent Harvard in the event. The women’s 800m first round starts at 6:37 p.m. EST on Thursday, July 31, with the semifinal starting at 7:01 p.m. EST on Friday, Aug. 1. The women’s 800m final is scheduled for 4:18 p.m. EST on Sunday, Aug. 3.

Both Bossong and Gorriaran shined in the 800m at the collegiate level last season. The Ivy League record holder in the women’s 800m with a time of 1:59.48, Bossong finished in second in the 800m at the NCAA Indoor Championships, earning All-America First Team honors in the process. A native of Cumberland Foreside, Maine, Bossong finished in ninth in the women’s 800m to take All-America Second Team honors to conclude her collegiate career.

A four-time All-American in the 800m across both indoor and outdoor competition, Gorriaran made strides in her second campaign with the Crimson. Gorriaran ran a personal-best 2:00.46 in the 800m at the NCAA East First Round and took home an Ivy League title in the 800m at the Ivy League Heptagonal Outdoor Championships.

Two-time NCAA men’s cross country champion Graham Blanks ’25 is poised to run in a pair of distance events. Blanks starts his time at Hayward Field with the men’s 10,000m at 11:08 p.m. EST on Thursday, July 31st, followed by the men’s 5000m on Sunday, Aug. 3 at 4:52 p.m. EST.

A household name in American distance running, Blanks orchestrated a one-of-a-kind collegiate career, becoming the first student-athlete in Ivy League history to win a NCAA national title in men’s cross country and the 13th student-athlete in NCAA history to win consecutive NCAA men’s cross country national titles. Before he turned pro with New Balance, Blanks become the second student-athlete in NCAA history to run sub-13 minutes in the men’s 5000m, meeting the World Championships standard with a time of 12:59.89.

CRIMSON SCHEDULE:

Thursday, July 31st

3:37 p.m. PST / 6:37 p.m. EST – Women’s 800m First Round (Victoria Bossong and Sophia Gorriaran)

4:07 p.m. PST / 7:07 p.m. EST – Women’s 100m First Round (Gabby Thomas)

8:08 p.m. PST / 11:08 p.m. EST – Men’s 10,000m Final (Graham Blanks)

Friday, August 1st

4:01 p.m. PST / 7:01 p.m. EST – Women’s 800m Semifinal (Victoria Bossong and Sophia Gorriaran)

4:20 p.m. PST / 7:20 p.m. EST – Women’s 100m Semifinal (Gabby Thomas)

7:27 p.m. PST / 10:27 p.m. PST – Women’s 100m Final (Gabby Thomas)

Sunday, August 3rd

 12:32 p.m. PST / 3:32 p.m. EST – Women’s 200m Semifinal (Gabby Thomas)

1:18 p.m. PST / 4:18 p.m. EST – Women’s 800m Final (Victoria Bossong and Sophia Gorriaran)

1:52 p.m. PST / 4:52 p.m. EST – Men’s 5000m Final (Graham Blanks)

2:13 p.m. PST / 5:13 p.m. EST – Women’s 200m Final (Gabby Thomas)

For complete coverage of Harvard Track & Field, follow us on Twitter (@HarvardTFXC) and Instagram (@harvardtfxc).

 





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Prison for ex-volleyball coach at Twin Cities high school who sexually assaulted player

A former volleyball coach at St. Paul Como Park Senior High School has received a seven-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting one of his players. Keng Cha, 31, of St. Paul was sentenced Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court after pleading guilty to two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with the encounters […]

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A former volleyball coach at St. Paul Como Park Senior High School has received a seven-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting one of his players.

Keng Cha, 31, of St. Paul was sentenced Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court after pleading guilty to two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with the encounters while he coached at Como Park.

With credit for time in jail after his arrest, Cha, is expected to serve about 4¾ years in prison and the balance of his term on supervised release.

Police went to the high school and met with a 15-year-old girl who said she and Cha, her B-squad volleyball coach, had sex four times from October 2022 to September 2023 at various locations including in the school’s back parking lot.

She said the intercourse occurred in his vehicle either behind the school or one time in October 2022 when he picked her up at her house and drove to a spot near a lake.

As officers were speaking to the girl in the school office area, Cha was with the athletic director in the school being fired and at the same time texting her, “Why haven’t you been coming to games?” and “Did you say anything to anyone about us?” Officers found Cha and arrested him.

Cha told police his relationship with the girl progressed to him sexually assaulting her anywhere from two to four times including in December 2022 in Battle Creek Park in St. Paul and the last time in his car near her house.



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Notre Dame Athletics Launches Yearlong Celebration of Women's Sports

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – In recognition of 50 years of women’s varsity athletics at the University of Notre Dame, the University announced on July 30, 2025 that it will launch the “Cheer Her Name” initiative to celebrate all the individuals who have and continue to contribute to the remarkable success of our women’s programs. Throughout the […]

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Notre Dame Athletics Launches Yearlong Celebration of Women's Sports

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – In recognition of 50 years of women’s varsity athletics at the University of Notre Dame, the University announced on July 30, 2025 that it will launch the “Cheer Her Name” initiative to celebrate all the individuals who have and continue to contribute to the remarkable success of our women’s programs.

Throughout the course of the 2025-26 academic year, Notre Dame Athletics plans to shine a spotlight on the history and accomplishments of its women’s varsity sports programs and to engage with key stakeholders through special campus events, connecting student-athletes, alumni and fans.

“We are excited to launch this yearlong celebration of our women’s athletic programs at the University,” said University vice president and James E. Rohr Director of Athletics Pete Bevacqua. “I am looking forward to meeting and celebrating many of our past student-athletes from the past five decades over the next year and hope that this provides increased growth and exposure to our women’s programs at Notre Dame.”

The highlighted celebration of the year will take place on campus during the weekend of September 19-21 when Notre Dame Football hosts Purdue. An invitation was extended to all female former student-athletes and others who have supported Notre Dame women’s sports, to return to campus to be recognized and celebrated. A full calendar of weekend events includes the opportunity to attend several social and athletic events, including a Friday night reception followed by the Notre Dame Volleyball match vs. Michigan. An enhanced focus on the past and present accomplishments of Notre Dame Women’s Athletics will continue throughout the year.

Notre Dame currently has 13 women’s athletic programs. After the establishment of tennis in 1976, Notre Dame has added fencing, field hockey, basketball, volleyball, swimming and diving, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, indoor and outdoor track and field, lacrosse, and rowing through the years.  In addition to numerous individual national titles, Fighting Irish women’s teams have won 16 national championships in fencing, soccer, and basketball. In the fall of 2022, the Notre Dame Monogram Club presented more than 250 honorary monograms to both the founders of the Women’s Athletic Association and the women who competed for Notre Dame during the first five years of coeducation between 1972-77.

If you are interested in contributing to the future success of Notre Dame’s athletics, including our women’s varsity athletic programs, please click here to learn more.

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Four Jayhawks to Compete at USATF Outdoor Championships

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas track & field will be represented by four Jayhawks at the 2025 Toyota USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon from July 31 to August 3.   Among the Jayhawks competing at the USATF Championships are Bryce Hoppel (men’s 800 meters), Honour Finley (women’s 800 meters), […]

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LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas track & field will be represented by four Jayhawks at the 2025 Toyota USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon from July 31 to August 3.
 
Among the Jayhawks competing at the USATF Championships are Bryce Hoppel (men’s 800 meters), Honour Finley (women’s 800 meters), Ashton Barkdull (men’s pole vault) and Mason Meinershagen (women’s pole vault).
 
Essence Henderson and Rachel Dincoff train with Kansas Associate Head Coach – Throws Doug Reynolds and will compete in the women’s discus.
 
Fans can watch all of the action on NBC live and on demand or on USATF.tv.
 
Hoppel is a three-time USA Outdoor Champion in the 800 meters, winning the event in three consecutive years, beginning in 2022. Hoppel became the first American since Nicholas Symmonds (2010-12) to win three-straight USATF titles in the 800 meters. Hoppel went on to finish fourth at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, with a personal best 1:41.67 in the 800 meters, setting the American record. Hoppel is coached by Kansas assistant head coach of cross country/assistant coach distance and middle distance, Michael Whittlesey. Hoppel will compete in the first round of the men’s 800 meters on Thursday, July 31 with finals slated for Sunday, August 3.
 

In the women’s 800 meters, the Jayhawks will be represented by Finley, who serves as an assistant coach – distance for Kansas track & field and cross country and was an accomplished middle (?) distance runner for the Jayhawks from 2018-22. Finley was a six-time All-American while at KU, including winning the 2018 Big 12 Indoor Championships in the women’s 4×400 meter relay. Finley trains with Kansas track & field head coach Stanley Redwine.
 
Finley went on to compete for Team USA at the 2023 Pan-American Games in Santiago, Chile. Finley will open up competition in the women’s 800 meters on Thursday, July 31 with finals scheduled for Sunday, August 3.
 
Kansas will be represented by two current Jayhawks in the men’s and women’s pole vault, as Barkdull recently finished as the runner-up in the men’s pole vault at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, while Meinershagen returns to Eugene after competing in the 2024 Olympic Trials. Both Barkdull and Meinershagen are coached by associate head coach/general manager – vertical jumps, Tom Hays.
 
Barkdull will compete in the men’s pole vault finals on Saturday, August 2 at 2:50 p.m., while Meinershagen competes on Sunday, August 3 at 2 p.m.
 

For a full listing of Jayhawks competing at the 2025 USATF Outdoor Championships, see below. Follow Kansas track & field on social media for live updates.
 
Schedule of Events (All Times Central)
 
Thursday, July 31
4:55 p.m. – Bryce Hoppel, Men’s 800 Meters First Round
5:21 p.m. – Honour Finley, Women’s 800 Meters First Round
 
Friday, August 1
6:42 p.m. – Bryce Hoppel, Men’s 800 Meters Semifinals*
7:04 p.m. – Honour Finley, Women’s 800 Meters Semifinals*
 
Saturday, August 2
2:50 p.m. – Ashton Barkdull, Men’s Pole Vault Final
 
Sunday, August 3
2 p.m. – Mason Meinershagen, Women’s Pole Vault Final
3:18 p.m. – Honour Finley, Women’s 800 Meters Final*
3:26 p.m. – Bryce Hoppel, Men’s 800 Meters Final*
 
*Must qualify



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Volleyball Adds Borum, Wagers as Graduate Assistants

Story Links STATESBORO— Georgia Southern volleyball has added former Loyola Chicago setter Bree Borum and Eastern Kentucky middle blocker Paige Wagers to the staff as graduate assistants, head coach Chad Willis announced. Bree Borum – Graduate Assistant/Director of Operations Borum, the three-time A-10 Setter of the Year at Loyola Chicago, will assume […]

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STATESBORO— Georgia Southern volleyball has added former Loyola Chicago setter Bree Borum and Eastern Kentucky middle blocker Paige Wagers to the staff as graduate assistants, head coach Chad Willis announced.

Bree Borum – Graduate Assistant/Director of Operations

borum loyola

Borum, the three-time A-10 Setter of the Year at Loyola Chicago, will assume the director of operations role for the squad after a decorated career with the Ramblers.

“We’ve heard a lot about Bree through some great connections, so when the opportunity presented itself to find a Director of Operations, it was a great fit,” Willis said. “Bree is coming off an outstanding career at Loyola Chicago and understands the day-to-day operations of a championship team. Bree’s organizational leadership, coupled with her competitive drive and strong communication skills, will make her a valuable asset to our program both on and off the court. We’re excited to have Bree with us and have already felt her immediate impact.”

Borum, also a three-time member of the A-10 First Team, comes to Statesboro after accruing over 500 kills, 3,000 assists and 1,000 digs during her time in Chicago. She spent her freshman season at Florida Gulf Coast.

In 2023 and 2024, she was AVCA All-Midwest Honorable Mention, and last season, she was the A-10 Tournament Most Outstanding Player. She also earned an NCAA Woman of the Year nomination.

Paige Wagers – Graduate Assistant/Director of Player Development

wagers eku

Wagers, who spent the last two seasons at Eastern Kentucky, will be the director of player development after two strong seasons up the middle with the Colonels.

“I’m excited for the opportunity to work alongside Paige. It was clear, going through the interview process and getting to know her better, that Paige has a passion for teaching and learning,” Willis said. “From her prep career in Lexington, KY, to her time at EKU playing under a great staff, Paige’s volleyball acumen is impressive and will make a positive impact on our team and culture. Our middle position group will benefit greatly from Paige’s knowledge and we’re looking forward to seeing how she elevates our gym.”

During her time in Richmond, Wagers notched just under 300 career kills and 224 career blocks. No stranger to Georgia, she played her first two seasons at Mercer, where she recorded over 100 career blocks and 200 kills.

Volleyball will open its 2025 season with an exhibition at Enmarket Arena against South Carolina on Aug. 23.



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Olympic diving legend Greg Louganis

As we uncover Los Angeles 1984 Olympics memorabilia, we get to travel to the home of diving legend Greg Louganis to discover his emotional Olympic… journey. The Summer Games are back in L.A. in 2028 but Hollywood made the Games a star-studded show from as early as Los Angeles 1932, from celebrity appearances to Olympians […]

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As we uncover Los Angeles 1984 Olympics memorabilia, we get to travel to the home of diving legend Greg Louganis to discover his emotional Olympic



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