Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images
If you know how to swim, you may be surprised to learned you’re in the minority in America due to how many people lack that particular skill. That includes a number of players on the Baltimore Ravens, but they’ll have a chance to learn from the best after Michael Phelps agreed to give them some lessons.
As someone who grew up a short drive from the New England shoreline, I started taking swimming lessons before I even started kindergarten, and I grew up thinking that was a pretty universal experience before eventually discovering that wasn’t actually the case.
According to the Red Cross, 54% of people in the United States lack “basic swimming skills,” which are basically defined by the ability to spend at least one minute in water over your head without sinking to the bottom of a pool that you’re able to exit without the assistance of a ladder.
Some people may not view swimming as an essential skill, but when you consider we live on a planet where 70% of the surface is covered in water, it doesn’t really hurt to have it in your back pocket.
It’s also never too late to learn, and some members of the Baltimore Ravens recently decided to figuratively and literally take the plunge before a guy who knows a thing or two about swimming offered to give them some guidance.
The Ravens tapped Michael Phelps to give players swimming lessons
On Tuesday, Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey posted a video of himself and a few teammates in the pool at Baltimore’s aquatic training facility before appealing to Michael Phelps to step up after revealing that a third of the players on the current roster don’t know how to swim.
Phelps is a Ravens fan who was born in Baltimore and raised in the suburb of Towson, and he is obviously suited for the job as the most decorated swimmer in the history of the sport thanks to the 23 gold medals he racked up while securing a grand total of 28 during his legendary Olympic career.
You also can’t spell “Phelps” without “help,” which isn’t really as important as those other facts but something I thought I’d still point out.
According to ESPN, the Ravens went out of their way to contact Phelps, who answered the call and confirmed he’ll be rising to the occasion in a comment he left on the post.
Michael Phelps
What a guy.