Life
Cullen Jones: Water safety campaign
Cullen Jones was five when he almost drowned but rather than live in fear of water the American jumped back in with both feet, overcoming his fears to become an Olympic swimming gold medallist and drive a campaign to slash the drowning rate in the United States.
The 28-year-old, who won relay gold in Beijing and hopes to earn an individual berth at the London Games, was put straight into swimming lessons by his mother after the water park accident.
(More: Cullen Jones: Erasing myths encourages kids to learn to swim)
Jones now juggles his training with a campaign to lower the disproportionately high drowning rate among African-Americans and stressed the importance of teaching children how to swim.
“In 2008 the drowning rate for African-Americans in the United States was three times more likely than any other rate,” Jones told Reuters via telephone after one of his training sessions at the gym.
“Swimming is a life skill,” added Jones.
