If you don't teach your children to swim, you're putting your grandchildren at risk. John Cruzat, USA Swimming

A new survey by USA Swimming – the national body for the sport, has revealed that 58 per cent of African American children – double the figure for white children, cannot swim.

The survey is part of an initiative to reduce drowning among America’s black population by persuading more African Americans to participate in swimming. Three times as many as the national average are victims of drowning incidents, but less than 2 per cent of USA Swimming’s members are black.

The strategy to boost swimming among America’s black population will involve youth and community organisations, corporations and local government. Learn to swim programmes are being expanded with many programmes targeting black communities. Cullen Jones, the black freestyle champion who won a medal at the Bejing Olympics is leading the Make a Splash programme, teaching African American children to swim.

The disparity in swimming skills between America’s black and white population has its roots in the country’s racial history, when pools were segregated and few swimming facilities were available for black communities. John Cruzat, USA Swimming’s Diversity Officer said that racial stereotypes based on “flawed academic studies” perpetuated the belief that blacks could not float properly.

Such misconceptions have been passed down from one generation to another to the extent that they are eventually deemed to be true. "These long-held beliefs are still so potent. If you don't teach your children to swim, you're putting your grandchildren at risk," Cruzat said.

USA Swimming’s study surveyed 1772 children in America aged between six and 16 across six cities – two thirds of the respondents were black or Hispanic – to establish which factors most contributed to the gap in swimming between blacks and whites.