Bryant: Jones trying to help minorities learn how to swim

BEIJING • Cullen Jones is about to start a challenge more difficult than anything he has faced in a pool.

The reason is in this next question.

Who is Cullen Jones?

It's been only a few days since one of the more dramatic comebacks in Olympic history, and many of you don't remember that Jones was the guy on the gold medal-winning 400-meter freestyle relay team with the most pigment in his skin.

Jones wants to help increase diversity in the water. He doesn't want young ethnic minorities to look at swimming as a viable athletic option as much as he wants them to learn how to swim.

"It didn't hit home until I started seeing research about how much more African-Americans and Latins are more likely to drown than any other," Jones said. "One thing I said before the Olympics is, ‘I can't make a movement without getting a little hardware at the Olympics.'"

Jones has his hardware now. Bank of America gave him $10,000 to help start what might be called "The Cullen Jones Diversity Tour." He wants to travel the nation to talk with and get more ethnic minorities in the water.

"I've gone to a driving range before and hit golf balls because I saw Tiger Woods doing it on TV," Jones said. "I want more minority kids to go to a swimming pool and try to swim because of me. I know I'm nowhere near Tiger Woods. But I want to make a difference. I want kids to say, ‘Look, a black swimmer. And he's got a gold medal!' And I want them to get in the water because of it."

I love Jones' story. I love his passion even more. I applaud him for wanting to help youngsters learn.

And as much as I hope I'm wrong, it's difficult to believe Jones' success will go much beyond the next couple of weeks.

Don't get my words twisted. Jones is a gold medalist. He is part of a record-breaking team, and nobody can ever take that from him. And both of those accomplishments will open numerous doors.

But it's not the doors of corporate America that need to be opened; it's the minds and hearts of young ethnic minorities who often don't see swimming as a viable and playful option. To do what Jones wants to do, constant attention must be given from the sport of swimming and from the leisure activity of swimming to the children.

If you see somebody who looks like you, might even share some of your experiences, and that person is at the top of his game, it's inspiring.

It's cool.

But if you only see it once in a while, it was just cool while it lasted.

Jones talked a lot about Woods, who has turned golf from a stuffy and mostly elitist sport and pastime into one that's wholly acceptable. It's still stuffy and elitist, but dark- and light-skinned folks alike understand it more and accept it more than ever.

Understand though, Woods has been the best in the world at what he does for many years. Prior to his latest knee surgery, Woods was on television every other week, winning and continuing to be the best.

How many times has Jones been on national television this year?

Counting the past week, maybe two or three times.

It's going to be tough for Jones to imitate Woods' face time. The Olympics are every four years. The World Championships are once a year. And every parent of a young child knows that with them, if it's out of sight, it's way out of mind.

Folks in swimming circles know Jones. But they're not the group Jones is trying to reach. The group he's trying to reach is hitting golf balls at the driving range.

"In the swimming world, I will be known for the next four years," Jones said. "But setting myself up with sponsors like Bank of America and Nike, that can help continue on - maybe put me on a commercial or something like that - and see my cause as a need, is important."

Jones' cause is a need. It is important.

I just hope Jones is up for the challenge because there are only two kinds of people who create lasting change. The person who is the most visible and the person who stays in the game the longest.

I hope Jones can stay in the swim game long enough to make it cool.
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Columnist Milo Bryant can be reached at 636-0252 or milo.bryant@gazette.com. Check out his blog, The Extra Milo, at milobryant.blogspot.com