Aug 12, 2009

Sink or Swim

On a recent tour of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, I was revisited by a recurring nightmare. As we approached the gym that houses the W&L pool, our tour guide proudly announced that Washington and Lee was one of only 8 universities in the country with a mandatory swim test. And, if you don’t pass you don’t graduate.

Visions of Weightman Hall immediately flashed before me as I recalled the utter humiliation of failing my first university exam—the dreaded swim test. Lucky for future generations of Penn women, the university did away with the requirement not long after I sank midway across the pool in front of a large audience of freshman. In fact, the W&L tour guide was almost correct. Only 11* schools (not including the service academies) still require demonstrated aquatic proficiency to graduate:

As recently as 1977, 42% of all post-secondary institutions had some sort of swimming requirement. Many legends come attached to these tests, the most frequently cited of which involve a wealthy donor and a relative who tragically died as a result of not knowing how to swim. In fact, most requirements came about as a result of an American Red Cross campaign to improve water safety after WWI. At Columbia, tour guides recall that the university began its 75-yard test to ensure that undergraduates could swim across the Hudson River to New Jersey in case of attack--engineering students are exempt presumably because they can rely on raft-building skills to stay afloat. Engineering is looking better and better.

Although each school puts a different spin on the requirement, the Bryn Mawr test seems fairly typical: 10 minutes continuous swim demonstrating 2 strokes; 1 minute treading water; and 1 minute motionless float. Those failing to pass are required to take a swim class which may count toward the mandatory PE requirement if taken before senior year. Note that Dartmouth is not nearly so generous, as swim class does not count toward the school's 3-credit physical education requirement.

* Edited from original post.

10 comments:

  1. Yes, walking in front of the entire freshman class at age 18 in a bathing suit. Not a good memory. But I can swim! (Tricia/W&L Class of 95)

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  2. I'm a horrible swimmer, but I passed. At least they made the boys go first! (W&L Class of 2006)

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  3. Dial back to 1968, add a dorky swim cap to that picture, and there you have it! I really could swim, but nerves got the best of me. My punishment was running out of swim class in West Philadelphia with wet hair and a very bad attitude.

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  4. Virginia Military Institute (VMI), a state school (not a service academy), requires all students to take a swim class.

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  5. I stand corrected, although I'm having a hard time confirming from the VMI website that there is a specific swim requirement for graduation. It may be part of the overall VMI fitness training program for which several substitutions exist or it may be a requirement for certain "commissions." It does make sense, however!

    For those unfamiliar with the geography: W&L and VMI are located right next door to one another in Lexington VA. They have a long-standing rivalry which has been played out in a series of pranks and fist fights over the years.

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  6. If I'm not mistaken, Berea College in KY still requires swimming in order to graduate.

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  7. You are absolutely correct! Admittedly, information in this area is a little dodgy since these statistics have not been formally collected in many many years. Nevertheless, I called Berea and spoke with Joe Martin, who is a very gracious admissions counselor and Berea graduate. Like me, he too failed the Berea swim test on his first try. But, he had a good excuse: in addition to demonstrating general swim proficiency, Berea students must also float for TEN MINUTES! Muscular types or those with low body/fat ratio have a very hard time passing this requirement. He assures me that with a little judicious (and not overly obvious) treading, it can be done--but not easily.

    Thank you, Mr. Martin, for helping me out. I will be sure to correct the orginal post to include Berea.

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  8. Washington and Lee's swimming requirement also included a jump from the balcony into the deep end of the pool. That and the swimming had to be done in the nude! It was an all-male school back then (1968)

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  9. No kidding! I knew Notre Dame required undergrads to take the test in the buff before the school went coed in the early 1970's, but I had no idea others were similarly stripped down. And I thought the swim cap was a problem...

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  10. Um, the University of Chicago has a similar requirement. Make that 12 …

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