Desiree Smith grew up in a household where swimming was taboo.
Her mother had just seen so much destruction from it. She had experienced friends, cousins and neighbors die as a result of drowning, so she forbade Desiree from going anywhere near the water unless it was simply to put her feet in.
But Desiree and her husband Darren, both non-swimmers, wanted something different for their kids, 13-year-old Londen and eight-year-old Landen. So they started them at the Harris County Aquatics Program (HCAP) before moving to the Third Ward-based Johnnie Means Aquatics.
The growth in the water they’ve seen in their kids in a bit of time has been astounding.
“It makes me proud to see them do what I can’t do,” Desiree said while watching her kids in the water at the Texas Southern University Rec Center. “The first time, I started crying. I had to go to the bathroom.”
That’s the kind of impact Johnnie Means Aquatics has on hundreds of kids in the Third Ward area and beyond.
The program, co-founded by Candess Tucker and Dominique Hamilton and named in honor of their legendary swim coach, was created four years ago to introduce inner city youth to swimming and, more importantly, to give Black and Brown children a skill that can save lives.
As part of the organization’s outreach, Johnnie Means Aquatics will host its Fourth Annual International Water Day on May 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the TSU Rec Center, where kids and their parents can learn about pool safety.
