Educator Sofia Forte was recognized and appreciated at the 58th annual International Swimming Hall of Fame Honoree Induction Ceremony on Sept. 29 in Fort Lauderdale.
BY BLANCHE L. GANEY | Contributor
ST. PETERSBURG — Educator Sofia Forte, better known as Coach Forte on the John Hopkins Middle School campus, was recognized and appreciated at the 58th annual International Swimming Hall of Fame Honoree Induction Ceremony on Sept. 29 in Fort Lauderdale for her untiring efforts in making sure the physical education curriculum continues to include a semester of swimming lessons for her students.
Coach Sofia Forte showing off her award at the 58th annual International Swimming Hall of Fame Honoree Induction Ceremony.
Forte and the other teachers in the P.E. department line the students up and escort them across the street to Campbell Park Recreation Center’s pool, where they receive swimming instruction every day for six weeks. A test is administered at the beginning and end of the six weeks to determine the need and the progress.
According to Forte, some of the students are not comfortable in the pool but are willing to learn, and others know enough to make their way across the pool, but both groups need instruction. As badly needed as the lessons are, Coach Forte said she receives pushback from the students and some of the parents that stems from fear to vanity.
Some students don’t want their hair wet because their mom paid a lot of money for their hair do. “I don’t let them off the hook easily,” stated Forte. “I remind them of the importance of learning to swim and how not learning to swim has negatively impacted our community.”
According to Cullen Jones, the African American Olympic gold medalist who was also recognized at the induction ceremony, more than one in four children die from drowning, which makes it the leading cause of death. Seventy percent of Black children, 60 percent of Latino children and 40 percent of Caucasian children have very little, if any, swimming ability. Cullen wants to change those statistics.
John Hopkins is fortunate to be a grant recipient that ensures every student interested in learning to swim can do so regardless of financial need. Coach Forte posted on Facebook some updates about the students’ swimming and how proud she was of their progress. The post caught the eye of Katie Bresler and her dad, Jeff Tawney, who connected Forte with the organization Every Child A Swimmer.
Bresler is passionate about aquatic safety, and she knew the organization would want to come alongside Forte’s efforts, and that’s exactly what they did with the needed dollars. Now, no child has to pay anything to participate in swimming lessons at John Hopkins.
When the swim program was getting started, the late Thaddeus Starling Sr. was the teacher who supported and kept the program going. Barry Brown, the former principal of John Hopkins, was another strong advocate of the program and, before the grant was bestowed, was adamant that the school figure out a way to pay for the swimming lessons if a child’s family couldn’t.
Coach Forte is so grateful for Brown’s support, who is now the principal at Gibbs High School and would like to repay him by preparing middle school swimmers for the Gibbs High swim team.
Even though the money obstacle has been removed, fear and vanity are still drawbacks that Coach Forte comes up against. “Coach Forte, you know Black people don’t swim,” some students say as they try to get out of participating in the swimming classes.
These concerns were shared with Jones, who was recognized at the Hall of Fame event for his efforts toward aquatic safety, especially for children of color, because of the staggering statistics concerning drownings. He encouraged Forte to keep up the good work and ignore the negative comments and stereotypes plaguing our communities regarding swimming.
