Payne lives to swim, teach safety

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Payne lives to swim, teach safety
08/04/02
ADAM GOLDMAN
News staff writer

When Calvin Payne reads about a person who has drowned, he cringes.

"It makes me cry," Payne says. "Drowning is horrible. Just imagine."
Payne, 46, makes it his mission to teach people in Birmingham how to swim to prevent drownings. He supervises the lifeguards at the Lakeshore Foundation Aquatic Foundation and teaches more than 80 disabled children and adults how to swim.

It does not matter if the children have autism or spinal cord injury Payne can get them to tread water or even float. He knows what it takes to get the job done.

"You have to have patience and love," he said. "I'm all about saving lives and teaching."

It helps that Payne is also tough.

"There ain't no quitter in me," Payne said.

Payne says it's easy to relate to children who battle deformities or illness.

Payne has chronic asthma, which almost killed him when he was 9 years old. After that near-fatal experience, he was sent to a convalescent home, where he learned how to swim.

That experience fueled his crusade to teach everyone in Birmingham to swim. He founded the Swimwell Aquatic School and frequently volunteers to speak at high schools and churches around Birmingham.

"It's about education," he said. "It's not about the money."

If there is a drowning at a local housing complex, you can usually find Payne there handing out his educational pamphlets instructing children never to swim alone.

He frequently finds children who do not know the first thing about pool safety.
"People think you can just run and dive in the water," he said. "You could break your neck."

Payne admits he is crazy about swimming. When he was 19 he lost his job because of swimming. During his lunch breaks he ran down the street to a nearby pool to swim laps. He always got back late.

Payne did not mind getting canned.

"It just gave me more time to swim," he said.

Not much has changed. Payne claims he spends about 16 hours a day in the water.
"There's not a day I don't get wet," he said.

What motivates him to stay in the water is pretty special.

"Some of the kids, they can't even walk," he says. "The greatest pleasure I get is to see a child swim without any assistance."

Payne has bigger plans than just teaching children and adults. If he could get an Alabama congressman to return his phone calls, he would suggest that the state should have a lifeguard on duty at every waterway or lake in which large numbers of people swim.

"These places are just inviting people to drown," he says.

To suggest a person for Good Work, contact Adam Goldman at 325-2467, by fax at 325-2283, or e-mail him at agoldman@bhamnews.com.