Tsinghua students must pass swim test before graduation

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The first big test for every new student enrolling at Beijing's Tsinghua University this year was proving themselves in the pool, as the institution requires all students to know how to swim before they're able to graduate.

At the start of this academic year, about 445 freshmen applied for the university's swimming test. To pass, each had to swim at least 50 meters, which more than 90 percent achieved.

Sink or swim

For more than 90 years, the swim test has been a campus tradition at Tsinghua.

Though freshmen with chronic diseases, skin ailments or a fear of water are exempt once such conditions have been affirmed by medical staff.

Any students who cannot swim receive free lessons until they pass the test.

Students who have no valid medical reason and cannot pass the swim test by the time they are due to graduate will not receive a diploma.

Earlier this year, the university decided to continue enforcing this rule, viewing swimming as a key survival skill for students.

Easy to pass 

But according to Liu Bo, head of the university's Division of Sports Science and Physical Education, statistics show about 90 percent of students are able to swim after taking the compulsory swimming course in their second year of university.

The remaining 10 percent receive instruction after class provided by teachers, without paying extra tuition.

According to a university questionnaire, half of new students are confident they will pass the test, while 32 percent say they cannot swim.

Some freshman describe learning to swim as simple compared to taking an academic course, but others who have had bad experiences around water sometimes express concerns.

Tsinghua University isn't alone in requiring that its students know how to swim. Such tests are a graduation requirement for a handful of leading universities both at home and abroad.

Traditions abroad

College students in the United States were first required to know how to swim at the beginning of last century because many universities were used as boot camps during World War I and II. Swimming was made compulsory to ensure water safety.

Today, universities like Bryn Mawr, Cornell, Columbia, MIT and Swarthmore still cling to the tradition.

Bryn Mawr's test consists of 10 minutes of continuous swimming, followed by one minute each of floating and treading water.

Columbia's is pretty easy — just three laps of the pool using any stroke, which only students in certain academic programs are required to undertake.

Swim tests have been making waves on Chinese social media recently, with netizens declaring themselves both for and against. Take a look at some of their comments:

@叹年华: That's why I chose Peking University.

@偏偏爱上妖: I grasp various swimming styles but can I go to Tsinghua University?

@xxx-haru: As long as I am admitted to Tsinghua University, I will learn how to dive from the 10m platform.

@国美智能APP: This is a great policy. First, swimming is helpful in improving students' endurance and doing less harm to joints and muscles. Second, learning to swim is to acquire a new skill.

Is it easier or harder for you to enroll in Tsinghua University? 

Sources: PeopleDaily, Xinhua 

Editors: Jiao Jie, A Yimu (intern)

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