According to the YMCA, 64 percent of Black children in the U.S. cannot swim. The Harlem Honeys and Bears, a synchronized swimming team for seniors, whose current members are between 62 and 101 and almost exclusively Black, aims to change that.
The Honeys and Bears perform at local pools, in other boroughs of New York and even out of state. Since the early 2000s, they have also traveled as a team to race individually during the state and national Senior Games, always sporting matching red sweatsuits. Some use a cane or a walker to access the pool deck, and sometimes employ a lift to slip into the water. But once they float in what they nickname their “fountain of youth,” they feel more capable than when on land.
The Honeys and Bears refer to Ali as the “historian” of the club because she stores and annotates numerous photographs of their gatherings. “Of course, we need to remember our past,” she says. “But we should also tell the story of whom we became — a bunch of joyful Black elders who thrive in the water.”
To deter the African Americans and Puerto Ricans who lived in Lower Harlem from using the local pool, Parks Commissioner Robert Moses employed only White attendants and lifeguards, Wiltse writes in “Contested Waters.” According to Moses biographer Robert Caro, the parks commissioner kept pool water unheated on the assumption that cold water bothered swimmers of color more than Whites.
All of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren are comfortable in the water, and Thomas insists on paying for their swim classes.
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