The Wilmington morning star., 1947-05-11

Some time ago this column reported lha Le -
mington YMCA was catering to adult members, aho laling
to give boys preference in use OF the various rooms anu
equipment in the building. We did not condemn tne pohcy'
nor praise it, but merely reported the 1ae =. roasuro to
Today with a great deal OF giee, III d pressure "
he able to heap praise on the collective shoulders OF
those individuals who shape the policy OF the assocla-
Reason for this is the current YMCA Learn To Swim
camnaign. which despite its lack Of publicity, is one OF the
finest things undertaken at the building.
A glance at any newspaper IN the country Is
enough to prove the need for American youth to learn
to swim properly. While death by suicide, cancer, In,
fantile, and, highway accidents are far IN excess OF
drowning deaths. there are estimated to be about H.
900 persons who drown annually in this country. Ma
turaily some of these can swim, but lack OF proper
~swimminga ability is the cause for most OF them mee'lng
their maker.
Adam Smith athletic director does not hesitate to pre-
dict that another 5000 drown because someone nearbye.
who could conceivably save the drowning victim, cannot
swim well enough to make the effort.
Smith. incidentally. is well qualified to instruct
Wilmington and New Hanover youngsters in the art
of handling themselves in the water, since ne once won
Olympic laurels as a swimming partner OF Johnny
WeismuIler. The only difference in the pair is that
Weismuler read Tarzan. and Smith didn't. otherwise
- it might he the Wi'mingtonian out in Hollywood.
The thing that interests us in this campaign IS that
over 200 local Youngsters are now taking top priority in
the use of the pool during the May 5-l7 drive. lhese
boys are not members of the YMCA, and Smiths lnstruc-
ton is not costing them a cent. The only possible gain the
YMCA may make from the swimming lessons IS to sign
up a few additional members.
Present members are having their pool-time push
"a I'D u seven u CIOCh Ill LIN NSHAH W A"hS ~
for the non-members to get in several classes of swim
ming instruction during" the day.
Smith estimates that the local Y has trained about 200
persons to swim each year for the past IS years. Classes
are currently starting every half hour from 2:3o to E
o'clock, which splits up the body of youngsters into small!
groups so that each individual can be given the proper
attention.
Of course we do not mean to hint that this is a
new thing with the Y. It's an annual affair. But, it
has received too little acclaim for the good it does for
Wilmington and Wilmington youth.
Now, it's up to the boys who are taking the lessons to
get the most out of them. incidentally, fellers, it isn't often
you get anything free, 50 grab a fistful of whatever it is
that comes your way. Then, later, you can do the repay
ing, and You'll be better qualified to do it.
What we would like to see is for the YMCA to pick
up 300 new members at once. This writer is not being
paid to publcize the Y, but if every boy, now gaining
free swimming instruction under Smith, would join
the Y, the building would be flooded with youngsters.
The idea we like is to keep YMCA officials so busy
with youth and the development of youth there
won't be any time Tor at least it will be late at night when
adult members will take over the gym and the pool.
Not that we have anything against the men. but
the Y in YMCA still stands for young. Let's keep
it that way.