Were you required to take (and pass) "The Swim Test" to graduate?
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ChathamHeel
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Yes and yes. Class of 76, did it in my first semester. Treading water was also part of it.
donbosco
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Dropped in 2006. There's good info at the first post.
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When I joined the Navy back in '99, you had to pass the 2nd Class swim qualification. That entailed jumping off the 10 meter platform, survival floating for 5 minutes and swimming the length of the olympic sized pool. You would be surprised how many folks joined the Navy who couldn't swim a lick. Had one of those fools say the only reason he joined the Navy was because he liked the dress blues, "Cracker Jacks".
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I think it has been a historic irony that many sailors never learned how to swim. Led to a lot of deaths over the centuries.
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I took the last day you could get it in before graduation. The line was fairly long, but it moved pretty quickly.
Can’t remember where I read this… very well may be a myth but I think it was intentional in the early seafaring days. Sailors didn’t want to learn how to swim because it would just prolong their suffering in the event the ship sank.
I did not have to do the swim test at UNC. My dad went to Georgia Tech and had to do a pretty gnarly class they called “drownproofing” which involved floating for an hour, swimming a pool length underwater and being attached to a weight with your hands and feet tied together. Navy SEAL shit, basically.
www.gtalumni.org
Drownproofing - Georgia Tech
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sunnyheel
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Likewise. I took the swim class my first semester and it was quite a learning experience. Woolen Gym and their standard issue gear. Working out in the company of team swimmers and those needing to learn.
Those competitive athletes wanted the water temperature no higher than 77* while the students wanted it higher. Of course, we newbs learned to adjust
On the other end, as a beach kid, I was shocked that so many NCians didn’t know how to swim, particularly in the Black community. Some of those beginners had to fight their own body mass - many athletes, muscular with almost no body fat. These folks were often unable to pass the exam and managed to get a waiver of some sort. It was known that the requirement was avoidable.
Operating comfortably with diversity was an early lesson in the Carolina Way.
donbosco
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I'm pretty sure that swimming has historically been tied to access to public accommodations.
Hey @sunnyheel -- long time.
Hey @sunnyheel -- long time.
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Took the swim test my freshman year before classes started. IIRC, the minimum age to get a Red Cross WSI badge was 18, so the summer before college I signed up for and passed a WSI course in Goldsboro. I thought having passed WSI would exempt me from the swim test. Nope! Apparently just having the badge sewn on my swim trucks was nor sufficient proof.
So, for me the swim test was largely,. . ., a big nothing. But for fit, black males with way lower body fat than I had--even as a skinny 18 year old--the swim test was a major obstacle. It really was unfair and not a reasonable prerequisite to graduation. I'm glad it is gone.
So, for me the swim test was largely,. . ., a big nothing. But for fit, black males with way lower body fat than I had--even as a skinny 18 year old--the swim test was a major obstacle. It really was unfair and not a reasonable prerequisite to graduation. I'm glad it is gone.
sunnyheel
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For sure. I was also surprised how many of my classmates were petrified of the water and horrified by the learning process. I suspect some were deterred from matriculation by the requirement.
donbosco
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Where I grew up there was only a single public pool (Siler City) and as a kid almost no African Americans frequented it. Living in the country I also almost never went though one summer my cousin was a lifeguard and so I got to go fairly often. I learned to swim then as she was the instructor.
I've spoken with African Americans from Chatham about "the pool" and like the "famous" Johnson's Hamburgers, it was considered off-limits for all but the brave if you were not white.
I suspect that plenty of North Carolinians born before up to around 1976 or so had similar, albeit not perfectly the same, experiences growing up.
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woahI did not have to do the swim test at UNC. My dad went to Georgia Tech and had to do a pretty gnarly class they called “drownproofing” which involved floating for an hour, swimming a pool length underwater and being attached to a weight with your hands and feet tied together. Navy SEAL shit, basically.
Drownproofing - Georgia Tech
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I did it at the last second my senior year purely due to procrastination. A girl to my left was super nervous and when she jumped in came up thrashing and sank. The lifeguards both jumped in to help her.
Then the guy to my right started gurgling, so I went and held him up (without putting his arms behind his back as I ought to have) until I could get one of the lifeguard/observers to come take him off my hands. Meanwhile he told me thanks and his mom said he could swim when he was little and it wasn’t so hard, just jump in and he would remember how to keep his head above water. Ooops.
Once I swam my lap, I asked if I could just float on my back for the water treading bit and they said sure, so I stretched out and floated a bit. The girl who went under was still crying when I left mostly because she couldn’t swim and would never pass the test in time for graduation.
No idea whether they worked something out for her.
Then the guy to my right started gurgling, so I went and held him up (without putting his arms behind his back as I ought to have) until I could get one of the lifeguard/observers to come take him off my hands. Meanwhile he told me thanks and his mom said he could swim when he was little and it wasn’t so hard, just jump in and he would remember how to keep his head above water. Ooops.
Once I swam my lap, I asked if I could just float on my back for the water treading bit and they said sure, so I stretched out and floated a bit. The girl who went under was still crying when I left mostly because she couldn’t swim and would never pass the test in time for graduation.
No idea whether they worked something out for her.
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I always wondered what happened to the folks who couldn't pass. I never knew anyone who didn't.
I did have an acquaintance who didn't know how to swim and her friends had to convince her to take swimming as a PE her last semester so she could learn and pass the test. It's like she was ignoring the requirement hoping it would go away if she just didn't think about it. But she passed the swim class and so she was good to go.
ChileG
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My dad also went to Ga Tech and he tells a story about the instructor asking if there was anyone who didn’t know how to swim.I did not have to do the swim test at UNC. My dad went to Georgia Tech and had to do a pretty gnarly class they called “drownproofing” which involved floating for an hour, swimming a pool length underwater and being attached to a weight with your hands and feet tied together. Navy SEAL shit, basically.
Drownproofing - Georgia Tech
Uncover the legacy of drownproofing, a unique Georgia Tech tradition in resilience.
One guy raised his hand and the instructor asked him to come over. Before anyone knew what was happening the instructor picked the kid up and threw him into the deep end.
He told everyone else not to dare jump in and help and they all watched horrified wondering if they were going to witness this kid drown.
Eventually the kid made his way to the edge of the pool gagging and crying. After he pulled himself out of the pool the instructor said, “I thought you said you couldn’t swim.” Then he ordered everyone into the pool.