Swimming and March Madness

March Madness is over (took several days into April to determine the champion) and the college basketball season ends. Did anyone happen to watch the commercials during the tournament? Several commercials featured swimming and the athletes that dedicate countless hours to the sport. Two that are really interesting are from Hartford and Buick.

Hartford is a major sponsor of the US Paralympics and features a woman that used swimming to overcome some obstacles. It is up to you to find the rest of the story. Here is the commercial that ran during the basketball tourney and here is the full interview.

Buick had a thirty second spot called the Buick Human Highlight Reel which featured men’s college basketball, track and field, and baseball and women’s college soccer, gymnastics, and swimming. It can be viewed here. It invites you to visit the Buick site and watch the athlete’s stories. To view the swimming story, you need to visit here and move your mouse over the profiles at the bottom until you get to the picture of the little girl at the pool edge. Very inspiring story but it is troubling when you see all the potential in the Williamsport African-American community. Does it really have to be all football and basketball? Is there any effort by parents and community leaders to target these youth?