Competitors enter the Oceanside Harbor to start the swim portion of he 2026 IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside on March 28, 2026 in Oceanside, California. Getty Images for IRONMAN I vividly remember the trepidation I felt as a Cornell University student when I took my required swim test.
We had to enter the deep end of the pool with a feet-first jump, float or tread water for one full minute and make a continuous 75-yard swim.
The wet rite of passage, instituted in 1905, made Cornell the first non-military college to mandate basic swimming proficiency in order to graduate.
Its driving force, campus ROTC commandant Col. Frank Barton, argued that a soldier who couldn’t swim was “dead timber” in command — but preserving the martial tradition has, for more than a century, given every Cornell graduate a skill for life.
I wasn’t a strong swimmer, but not wanting to be “dead timber” I practiced diligently and passed.
That 75 yards taught me resilience, preparation and the value of meeting objective standards — and carried me through the inevitable deeper challenges of my adult life.
Like Cornell, Columbia University, MIT, Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore College and most US service academies still maintain the swim test tradition.
This year, Dartmouth College’s senior class will be the first in roughly a century to graduate without completing a swim test.
And it’s the rationale for the cancellation that troubles me.
When Dartmouth faculty voted to eliminate the test, they claimed they did so for reasons of equity, citing data that students of color were far more likely to need a remedial swim class in order to pass.
Williams College followed suit, claiming its swim test had an adverse disparate impact on students from minority backgrounds.
The disparity shouldn’t be surprising — CDC data shows black children aged 10 to 14 drown in swimming pools at rates about 7.6 times higher than white children.
It seems that data should justify preserving a swim test, not eradicating it.
But rather than uphold the old standard, Dartmouth replaced the swim test with flexible physical education and wellness options, like yoga, club sports or dance (with optional swimming lessons, too).
Much as I support mental health and fitness initiatives, when someone is submerged and struggling to breathe, their ability to tread water or perform a backstroke matters far more than their ability to do a downward dog pose.
We see this pattern of eliminating or lowering standards across every level of our education system under the banner of ending racial injustice.
Hundreds of universities have ditched objective admissions assessments like the SAT and ACT, citing racial score gaps.
States like New York, Oregon and California have phased out or softened high-school exit exams for the same reason.
But that runs counter to what I’ve seen in my experience leading public charter schools in The Bronx.
Many of my students arrive behind in grade-level proficiency, but that doesn’t mean they need a lower bar.
What they need is differentiated support to ultimately meet or surpass the high standards we’ve set.
Paternalistic assumptions that minority or low-income students can’t meet benchmarks attainable by others smack of the worst bigotry, denying them the dignity of real achievement.
Ironically, Dartmouth itself has already charted a better path forward.
In 2024, President Sian Leah Beilock announced plans to reinstate the SAT/ACT requirement for Dartmouth’s class of 2029 — the first Ivy League school to do so.
Backed by internal research, Beilock explained that the tests “can be especially helpful in identifying students . . . who would succeed at Dartmouth but might otherwise be missed.”
Evidence showed objective metrics, used thoughtfully, promote fairness and incentivize preparedness.
Dartmouth should extend this principled, data-driven approach to its swim test.
Just as reinstating standardized testing better serves all students — including those from underrepresented backgrounds — restoring the swim requirement, paired with targeted support like the free lessons Dartmouth already offers, would honor the same commitment to excellence.
Twenty years after passing my Cornell swim test, I stood at the start of the Westchester Olympic triathlon, facing a 1,500-meter open-water swim.
Apprehensive but prepared — thanks to that foundational 75 yards — I dove in confidently.
What if Cornell had dropped the requirement for someone like me?
I’m glad my school believed I could rise to high expectations.
By reinforcing a narrative of victimhood and inability, rather than agency and competence, lowering standards hurts the very people they’re meant to help.
Standards don’t discriminate when met with support; they elevate.
In trusting students to meet ambitious yet achievable objectives, we give them the greatest gift: the confidence to navigate whatever turbulent waters life presents.
Ian Rowe is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of Agency: The Four Point Plan (F.R.E.E.) for All Children to Overcome the Victimhood Narrative.
