Learning to swim is so much more than being able to move in the water, he says. It's about self-esteem, healthy eating, building good character and discipline --- it takes a lot of will power to swim 335 yards three days a week.

The students' mothers say they've noticed big changes. There's a high correlation, they say, between their children's swimming skills and how they perform in the classroom.

Several of the kids attend elite, private schools in Atlanta such as The Paideia School and The Westminster Schools. Their moms hope they, like Muhammad, will find their way to a reputable university, whether through their strokes in the water or their grades in the classroom.

"The coaches really care here," says Michelle Brown, whose daughters, Brianna, 13, and Alexis, 9, are expert swimmers.

"I never learned how to swim," she says. "But I always had this fear my kids might drown."

On this evening, half the moms who are waiting don't know how to swim.

They sit and laugh and joke --- they're part of a mom's club that's formed from all the hours they spend together. They don't mind giving up hours in their long days.

"It's worth it," they say.

Melissa Jones brings her daughter Ariel, 14, who began swimming when she was 6. Jones' primary goal was fitness. Ariel took to the water and now races at swim meets with the Dolphins.

Jones says the mothers discuss how to promote Adamsville's swimming program so that many more kids will take advantage.

Some of the mothers say they have pools closer to their house, but it's important for their children not to be the only black kid in the pool. That's something that happens more often than it should, says Tina Braboy.

"There are so many stereotypes that black kids can't swim," Braboy says, looking down at the pool below her: blue water and brown skin. Most of the students here are African-Americans.

Braboy thinks it's a good thing for her daughter Bruntie to learn to swim with kids who look like her. And a good thing to Muhammad as inspiration.