Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/79154
Outdoorlife living SWIMMING & Saturday, August 18, 2012 – Daily News 3B California Outdoors Q&A MCT photo Swim teacher Conrad Cooper, top, guides Tali Sims, 4, to the bottom of a pool to grab a plastic starfish. Father faces fear in the deep end By KURT STREETER McClatchy Tribune float." LOS ANGELES — "First," he says, "we're going to Float? Doesn't he know I'm terrified? I've never been able to float; I sink in water like a bag full of barbells. The tall, tattooed black man standing before me in his swimming pool has no patience for excuses. Our bodies, he says, are remarkably light. Our lungs are like life jackets. He lies back. Sure enough, he floats. "Your turn," he says. to keep calm, I lie back — but the next few seconds feel like forever. Water washes over my shoulders. My muscles tighten, my arms feel like logs and my legs meekly flutter. My face drops beneath the surface and warm, salty water streams down my mouth, which is locked open in hard effort. I twist toward the bottom. Conrad Cooper, water still dripping from his ever-present hoop earring, neither laughs nor frowns. He and his six stu- dents — five women and me, all in our 30s and 40s — are in the shallow end of his pool in South Los Angeles. It's a Monday evening, the first of five straight nights of lessons. He is known as the Swim Whisperer. And he takes all I hesitate. The hair stands on the back of my neck. Trying comers. showed that roughly 70 percent of African American and 60 percent of Latino children have little or no swimming abili- ty, numbers reflecting their parents' lack of skill. But Cooper's kidney-shaped saltwater pool — lined by bamboo and palm trees — is typically full of diversity: blacks and Latinos from the Crenshaw area, devout Jews from Mid-City, and Asian families from the San Fernando Valley. Famous actors and musicians bring their kids here. So do plumbers. Swimming suffers from a lack of diversity. A recent study like mine, or these kinds of lessons," Cooper says, reasons also cited by the CDC. "They don't see a lot of black instruc- tors. There aren't enough role models. That doesn't help, because not knowing how to really swim — the results can be tragic." larly kids, most at risk, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The drowning rate for black chil- dren aged 5 to 14 is almost triple that of white children of the same age. "A lot of minorities just don't have easy access to pools He needs only to think of his wife, Londa Parks, to know that. When she was growing up in the 1950s, her 8-year-old brother fell into a Michigan river. Unable to swim, he was swept away and drowned. "Having fun and being joyful is the emphasis in our Question: My wife and I both hunt deer during open season along with small game, preferably squirrels. We carry two rifles each (one for deer and the other for squirrel). After hours of hiking though, it gets tiring. So my ques- tion is if I was to carry a small cal- iber rifle to hunt squirrel and my wife carries a big caliber rifle to hunt deer, would it be legal for us to switch guns during the same trip? For example, after she tags her deer, I could use her gun to go hunt for deer and she'd use my small caliber rifle to hunt squir- rels. Or, would we have to contin- ue carrying two guns each to hunt the two different species? (John) Answer: There is no problem with you and your wife sharing your rifles as long as the appropriate rifle is used for the appropriate species. Remember that rim- fire rifles, such as the .22, are legal for squirrel but not for deer. If you are deer hunting, you must carry a cen- terfire rifle. If you are hunting in the Condor Zone, the large caliber rifle must carry non-lead ammunition. This restriction would not apply to the take of small game including tree squirrel, jackrabbit and cottontail. Cleaning abalone and then traveling to campsite Question: We love to camp at the Gerstle Cove Carrie Wilson Woodside Campground and eat abalone for dinner. Can we legally clean the abalone at the fish cleaning facility and then drive a mile back up to the campsite to cook them? I am sure the rangers would prefer the abalone guts to be at the cleaning station rather than to be put into the trash cans at the campsite to rot. How- ever, it means driving a mile to the campsite in posses- sion of abalone that are out of the shell. I am afraid the campground workers will not enjoy your answer. (Anonymous) Answer: Abalone cannot be transported out of the He mainly teaches kids, but offers night classes for adults, especially hard cases like me. He tries to get you comfort- able in water and adept enough at basics like treading water and the crawl stroke to enjoy it. I paid $200 for my lessons. I wanted them because of my son, Ashe, who will soon be 2. I hope to help him learn to swim next summer. I certainly don't want to pass along my fears. It's silly to be afraid of water, right? Right. "Don't worry," Cooper says, watching me wring my hands. "By Friday, you're going to be feeling a whole lot bet- ter about this. You're actually going to enjoy yourself." In college, I was an athlete. At 45, I'm still in good shape — but none of that matters now because, try as I might to mask it, I'm as scared as I've ever been. I try again to float. Cooper holds me up with a steady hand. "I can do this," I say. He lets go. I sink. Teach me to swim? Can't be done. About 10 people die from unintentional drowning in the United States every day, with African Americans, particu- pool," Cooper says. "But we also know in a personal way that being in the water can be a matter of life and death." Says Cooper: "I don't talk to their children like kids or babies. They are little people, and they respond like little people. Usually it's really complimentary. But some kids. … They throw tantrums, don't pay attention, goof around. I go to their ears and quietly say, 'You'd better get over yourself. Your daddy is right there. You want to go back to your daddy? Fine, keep crying, and you're going to have to leave the pool.'" Invariably, he says, the kids learn. Despite my fear, I have always been drawn to the water. That Seattle lake I thought I'd never make it out of? In high school I stood at its shores, envious as friends swam its width. While at the University of California-Berkeley, I often made a point of watching Olympic great Matt Biondi, a classmate, swim his rhythmic practice laps. I was in awe of his easy buoyancy. On Day 3 in Cooper's pool, that buoyancy is still elusive. I'm in the deep end, clinging to the wall. He has taught us the crawl and now wants us to use it. "Swim across," he tells me. My fellow students are lined up beside him. "We're waiting," he says. "We don't have all night." He smiles. I don't. He wants me to use my legs to drive off the wall and tor- pedo out. Five seconds pass. Ten. I don't budge. The water laps against my neck. This is the deep end. Below is an underwater canyon ready to suck me down. I release my grip and push off. I stroke. I kick. the far side of the pool. I can see the wall coming closer, clos- er ... at last, I touch it. Fifteen feet. Without drowning. "See? It's not all that bad," Cooper says. Finally, it's Friday. Cooper will test us. I want to run away. I feel dizzy. But then I think of Ashe. "Go ahead," Cooper says. I step off into the abyss. Water gushes around my head, but I float to the surface, tread water for a moment, then ease my way across the pool, crawling and kicking and breathing. I'm swimming. CRIME DFG continues probe into bear shooting Department of Fish and Game (DFG) wardens continue to investigate the death of a bear shot and found dead on a Lake Tahoe beach near Homewood on July 30. MCT file photo A view of Emerald Bay in the Lake Tahoe area. The investigating warden determined the bear was shot at close range and that the type of injury sustained by the bear is indicative of a wound that would bleed severely, leaving obvious evidence at the location where it was shot. The investigating warden thoroughly searched, but did not locate blood or evidence that a firearm was discharged on any of the properties surrounding the beach where the bear was found dead. Wardens continue to fol- low up on other leads, including many tips from the Tahoe com- munity, and hope to resolve the case as soon as possible. DFG appreciates public inter- est in this poaching crime and understands the depths of emo- tions it has stirred. However, rumors, false information and Internet postings that encourage citizens to take matters into their own hands have the potential to complicate this ongoing investi- gation. "Residents of Homewood have every right to be outraged about this bear's death," said DFG Capt. Brian Naslund. "As much as we want to bring this poacher to justice, we cannot prove a poaching crime with hearsay and rumor." A final report will be submit- ted to the Placer County District Attorney for consideration, once the investigation has concluded. Anyone with specific informa- tion that could lead to the arrest and conviction of the bear shoot- er is encouraged to call DFG's CalTIP at (888) 334-2258. Callers may remain anonymous. Then I do both at the same time. I stretch my arms toward shell. According to DFG Game Warden Tiffany Stin- son, abalone should be cleaned at the campsite where they will be consumed. Place the trimmings and guts in a bag to throw away later. If you are stopped in transit with abalone removed from the shell, it will be a viola- tion. The regulations state: "Abalone Possession and Transportation: Abalones shall not be removed from their shell, except when being prepared for immediate consumption" (CCR Title 14, section 29.15(g). Dove Hunting Question: I understand that doves can be taken with Answer: It is legal to take perched doves and other resident small game (including quail) with air rifles powered by compressed air or gas, as prescribed in the regulations. However, only the following dove species are classified as Resident Small Game and may be taken with pellet guns: Chinese spotted doves, Eurasian collared-doves and ringed turtle-doves of the family Columbidae. Western mourning dove and all other migratory game birds may not be taken by pellet gun (California Code of Regulations Title 14, section 300(b)). You may carry both the pellet gun and shotgun while hunting. Definition of bait Question: Can you please define bait for me? Some airguns/spring guns with use of pellets. Does this mean I can take them while perched but not in flight? If yes, when I go dove hunting can I take both my shotgun and my airgun? And if this is alright, can I use my shotgun when the doves are in flight and my air gun when they land? Do the same regulations apply to quail? (Blong Y.) rivers have a no bait restriction. Can I use rubber egg imitations? And if so, can I also add some scent to the rubber eggs? (Ken H., Santa Rosa) Answer: Bait is not specifically defined in Califor- nia Fish and Game fishing regulations, but rubber eggs or any similar item is covered by the definition for "Artificial Lure" in section 1.11 in the Freshwater Sport Fishing Regulations booklet. An artificial lure is a man- made lure or fly designed to attract fish. This definition does not include scented or flavored artificial baits. Often these regulations also state barbless hooks. Bait that is authorized for use is defined in section 4.00 of the fishing regulations as: "Legally acquired and possessed invertebrates, mollusks, crustaceans, amphibians (except salamanders), fish eggs and treated and processed foods…" Rubber egg imitations without scent would qualify as an "artificial lure" and may be used in waters where artificial lure restrictions are in effect.