Swimming Against the Odds
Harris County Aquatic Program : 1st Ten Years
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
When the two teams entered the turn Kelley had closed the gap and was
now at the knees of the lead swimmer.
When the lead swimmers emerged from the turn Kelley had moved closer and
now was at the shoulder of her opponent.
Halfway home with only 121/2 yards to go, Kelley pulled even with her
opponent. They were neck and neck,
stroke for stroke. It was pure bedlam in
the spectator section. People were
standing, yelling, waving their arms, jumping up and down as it was anybody’s
race to win now. Some of the
As the final two relay leg swimmers from the Mighty Dolphins and
Both swimmers reached for the wall together in a photo finish, with the
winning team finishing one tenth of a second ahead of the other team. The Mighty Dolphins had fought hard, but
would the victory be theirs? It was
difficult to determine who the winners were.
When the victorious team was announced --
The 1993 TAFF state swimming meet was the last for Harris County's
Mighty Dolphins. Our kids had their
sights on bigger, prestigious meets.
They prepared to seek new challenges with the big league athletes in USS
swimming. A footnote: The winning time
in the 200 free relay was 1:57.43 by
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
The book is a historical prospective of the first 10 years of the Harris County Aquatic Program. The text focuses on the origin, organizational structure, and program highlights. It is written in such a way that it may serve as a how to guide for other similar, developing youth sports organizations.
The book also provides compelling evidence about the ability of Black swimmers to compete at elite levels of competition. Many myths about their swimming capabilities are dispelled. The book begins by describing the authors introduction to competitive swimming and the opportunities opened to him during his childhood and early teens and end with recent accomplishments of HCAP participants.
Highlights of the program’s
accomplishments begin with a description of the team’s performance in the
“Pepsi Games of Texas.” It is a
stroke-by-stroke replay of four swimmers representing
The book ends by describing major accomplishments of former participants, and the programs’ quest to continue providing opportunities to inner city minority youth.
About the Author
In more than 35 years Dr. Thurman W. Robins has been a participant, coach and administrator of sports and athletic programs. As a participant he was captain of his high school swimming team three years. He was also captain of his collegiate team his senior year. He earned NAIA All-American status his junior year.
He began his professional career as Aquatic Director for the South Central YMCA and coached their swimming team for two years. He taught and coached several sports including swimming in the Houston Independent School District for twelve years.
He has worked at Texas Southern University for the past 25 years where he served as Director of Athletics on two separate occasions. For the past eight years he has served as Professor and Chairperson for the Health and Kinesiology department.
Prior to the formation of HCAP, Dr. Robins was instrumental in helping the City of Houston Parks and Recreation department develop a competitive swimming program and served as its director and coordinator for its first seven years.
Dr. Robins along with Harris County Commissioner El Franco Lee and Johnnie Means formed the Harris County Aquatic Program in 1991. Robins and Means served as co head coaches/consultants to the program until Robins’ departure in 2002.