We have an article in the sports section of our weekend edition, to be out today, about Sasha Minsky, a student-athlete at the Potomac School in McLean, who has started an initiative to bring swimming skills to youth in the South African community of Alexandra.
(No “i” in “Alexandra” — it’s a community of several hundred thousand crammed into less than 3 square miles. So next time you say Northern Virginia is crowded …)
The effort builds on other philanthropic initiatives supporting South Africa launched by Minsky, who is a multi-sport athlete (including swimming) for his school and also is a swimmer and assistant coach for the Great Falls Rapids of the Northern Virginia Swimming League.
According to the article, a lot of youth in that poor community don’t know how to swim, and some drown in the river that flows through it.
“We want to change that and help them stay alive,” Minsky told our Dave Facinoli. “This [effort] is not only for fun, but also for survival.”
Good job! That’s once of the nicer parts of being a media person, bringing such stories to the public.
CLICK HERE for the coverage.
SPEAKING OF SWIMMING: Enjoy the video below from the days when the world was in black-and-white and Bobby Freeman (not to be confused to with Bobby Lewis of “Tossin and Turnin” fame — but both are great) had a hit with “The Swim.”
So much to unpack with this video, but the best part starts a little over a minute in, when one of the female dancers begins to lose the straps on her bikini top. Somehow, she manages to keep everything in place.
Well, darn.
– Scott McCaffrey