Talking Sports: Fear of water should be halted early in life

I came across a several-year old story in Slate magazine that discussed the drowning deaths of six teenagers in Louisiana. None of the victims or the adult bystanders knew how to swim.

The article went on to state that it was likely that one-third to about one-half of Americans couldn't swim. Further, a 1994 survey was cited in which 37 percent of American adults said they couldn't swim 24 yards.

A University of Memphis study revealed that 54 percent of children between the ages of 12 and 18 couldn't do any more than wade in the shallow end of a pool.

Broken down demographically, the study fou...