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[quote=Hamish Forbes;29558031]Mortimer Adler was one of the more interesting cases of someone who refused to take the Ivy-League swimming test on principle. Columbia University withheld his Bachelors degree as a result. Nevertheless, he became a lecturer and then a professor at Columbia, received his PhD there, and later went on to the faculty at the University of Chicago. He is also remembered as an enthusiastic proponent of the Great Books and as editor of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Columbia relented at some point, and gave him his BA late in life.[/QUOTE]
This is the sort of oversimplification that misses the point. I was certainly not a happy camper when my alma mater, (Penn State), told me that I would either pass swimming or spend all eight of my mandatory PE courses "in the tank". And this happened to be only the first year after a new pool ended the practice of all-male groups in older, windowless pools swimming au naturel.
But it was explained to us early on that, in the mold of a highly-regarded program developed at Georgia Tech, the real object here was to "drownproof" us -- to allow us to survive in deep water for as long as possible. Most people can float for a long time, if their fear of water is overcome. But in any case, we would meet the requirement as long as some progress was made; you didn't have to master a half-dozen different strokes.
At any rate, due to some physical issues, the process took two terms instead of one, but I did pass the course and could still swim a mile nonstop years later; the progress at mastering a physical challenge, a rarity for me, was also a big psychological boost. And I'm sure the "swim or no degree" requirement would have been waived in any case, so long as I'd made my best effort.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 05-14-2013 at 09:57 AM..
I went to University of Chicago and we had a swim test there.
It was untimed in a half length pool. More than a few people passed by floating on their back and kicking off the sides.
If you failed, you were required to a take a no-credit no-tuition swim class.
The physical fitness test, though, was more difficult. Generally only recruited athletes passed it completely. If you failed, you had to take one to three 18 hour fitness classes (for free), depending on how you did on the test.
UofC dropped the fitness and swim requirements this last academic year though. This pissed off a lot of alumni, but by now they are all used to the common core being regular cut ever since the days of Hugo Sonnenschein as president
My high school had a swim requirement to graduate. I remember (waaaay) back then that the PE instructor said something to the effect of "last year x number of people died due to drowning. There is never a reason any person over the age of x should die from drowning, therefore you must pass basic swimming in one semester in order to graduate".
Can't really argue with that logic. Drowning due to an accident, being drunk/high, or being an infant is one thing. Drowning because you can't swim is pretty inexcuseable (IMO).
I think it is a good requirement. Didn't bother me in the least to take the test. You can dog paddle across the pool if you want. No one is timing you or evaluating your technique.
I was shocked to learn that certain Ivy League schools make you pass a swim test before you can graduate. I think that is kind of crazy. What about anybody else?
To go to my high school you have to pass a swim test.
I just learned that one of my favorite people, Mortimer J. Adler, never received his bachelor's degree from Columbia because he refused to take the swimming test. Nevertheless, he immediately enrolled in their graduate school and went on to teach there for quite some time before going to Chicago. How interesting!
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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We had to pass one semester of swimming at my high school, too, but we didn't have it at my university.
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