Did you have to take swimming lessons in school?

[dead0man]

Hahah, no.  Our schools blew money on other stupid things.  And schools are still doing this?  I was under the impression superfluous junk like that was going away?  I know drivers ed has gone the way of the dodo in most places and swimming lessons seems like a much bigger waste of money.

[phk]

Yes

[Ban my account ffs!]

Hahah, no.  Our schools blew money on other stupid things.  And schools are still doing this?  I was under the impression superfluous junk like that was going away?  I know drivers ed has gone the way of the dodo in most places and swimming lessons seems like a much bigger waste of money.

Yeah.. why aren't all schools one room jobs with wood stoves and outhouses and the teachers, all unmarried women, paid a small stipend?  Hope none of the kids drown on their 6 mile walk to school either!

There are much bigger things we waste money on than driver's ed and swimming lessons... like your pointless defense job, perhaps.

[Tender Branson]

Yes, I think that was compulsory in Sweden Austria.

[Хahar 🤔]

Hahah, no.  Our schools blew money on other stupid things.  And schools are still doing this?  I was under the impression superfluous junk like that was going away?  I know drivers ed has gone the way of the dodo in most places and swimming lessons seems like a much bigger waste of money.

If the school has a pool, swimming is a much smaller additional effort than driving would be.

[dead0man]

Hahah, no.  Our schools blew money on other stupid things.  And schools are still doing this?  I was under the impression superfluous junk like that was going away?  I know drivers ed has gone the way of the dodo in most places and swimming lessons seems like a much bigger waste of money.

Yeah.. why aren't all schools one room jobs with wood stoves and outhouses and the teachers, all unmarried women, paid a small stipend?  Hope none of the kids drown on their 6 mile walk to school either!

There are much bigger things we waste money on than driver's ed and swimming lessons... like your pointless defense job, perhaps.

Hey sorry man, didn't mean to poke that open sore.  I was under the impression public schools were having funding issues, I guess I've heard wrong.

[Hash]

No. My school in Riyadh didn't have a pool and the only other pools we could have gone to were in compounds, so no. In Ottawa, I never heard of that concept of swimming lessons in physed.

[minionofmidas]

for 2 weeks every year until 8th grade

Wait, what? Wouldn't they assume, at some point, that you could swim if you participated in the past?

As to the question as posed in the thread title. "I suppose so. I don't know for sure; it's not as if asking if participation was compulsory would have ever occurred to me. Swimming was one sport activity I both liked and was good at, and that was far from par for the course for school sports. Besides, that was back in primary school."

I did take swimming again when we finally could choose our sport in the last three years of high school, in the first of those years. (The others, I played table tennis and then handball.)

[Torie]

No, I "taught" myself to swim - in an instant. That occurred after water was put in the new pool my parents built, when I was about 4 years old, and my father was throwing pennies into the pool for my older brother to dive in and collect. That simply could not stand. I just dived in to secure my share. That is a true story. Greed is a very powerful human emotion.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

No, I "taught" myself to swim - in an instant. That occurred after water was put in the new pool my parents built, when I was about 4 years old, and my father was throwing pennies into the pool for my older brother to dive in and collect. That simply could not stand. I just dived in to secure my share. That is a true story. Greed is a very powerful human emotion.

Bourgeoisie.

[tpfkaw]

Hahah, no.  Our schools blew money on other stupid things.  And schools are still doing this?  I was under the impression superfluous junk like that was going away?  I know drivers ed has gone the way of the dodo in most places and swimming lessons seems like a much bigger waste of money.

Yeah.. why aren't all schools one room jobs with wood stoves and outhouses and the teachers, all unmarried women, paid a small stipend?  Hope none of the kids drown on their 6 mile walk to school either!

Back in those days, children were taught calculus in the 6th grade.  Just sayin'...

[Cincinnatus]

Hahah, no.  Our schools blew money on other stupid things.  And schools are still doing this?  I was under the impression superfluous junk like that was going away?  I know drivers ed has gone the way of the dodo in most places and swimming lessons seems like a much bigger waste of money.

Many schools around here have swim teams, and it's considered just as much a sport as baseball, or football.  So the fact that we already have a pool in many of our schools, it's more sensible.  Take note though, that the school never used the heaters, and it was always freezing when you went in.  That, and the over chlorinated water was the only downside to swim. 

[Ban my account ffs!]

Hahah, no.  Our schools blew money on other stupid things.  And schools are still doing this?  I was under the impression superfluous junk like that was going away?  I know drivers ed has gone the way of the dodo in most places and swimming lessons seems like a much bigger waste of money.

Yeah.. why aren't all schools one room jobs with wood stoves and outhouses and the teachers, all unmarried women, paid a small stipend?  Hope none of the kids drown on their 6 mile walk to school either!

Back in those days, children were taught calculus in the 6th grade.  Just sayin'...

Any proof?

Also.... calculus is rather pointless to a drowning child.  Just sayin'...

[Platypus]

knowing how to swim has a much more positive effect on my daily life than knowing basic algebra...

[afleitch]

knowing how to swim has a much more positive effect on my daily life than knowing basic algebra...

I never fully mastered either. My school thought rugby was a more fitting sport.

[Ban my account ffs!]

for 2 weeks every year until 8th grade

Wait, what? Wouldn't they assume, at some point, that you could swim if you participated in the past?

As to the question as posed in the thread title. "I suppose so. I don't know for sure; it's not as if asking if participation was compulsory would have ever occurred to me. Swimming was one sport activity I both liked and was good at, and that was far from par for the course for school sports. Besides, that was back in primary school."

I did take swimming again when we finally could choose our sport in the last three years of high school, in the first of those years. (The others, I played table tennis and then handball.)

It was
1)  Part of Phy Ed  (Essentially a swimming unit)
2)  Actually learning to swim was for the young grades
3)  The older grades learned various strokes/lifesaving techniques and even played water polo.

Schools here promote choice.  You can take curling or aquatic sports or tennis and golf or a "shape up" course or weight training... just as you can take world languages, business courses, industrial tech (auto-shop/woods/welding/etc)...

Unfortunately it also creates opportunities for slacking off.  But if Jimmy wants to work construction, he can learn to do it through the construction tech courses and help build homes for Habitat for Humanity.  What point is there in making him take calculus if he has no desire to do so and would never use that knowledge anyway?

[angus]

I did not.  I've been swimming since I was in kindergarten.  My parents saw to that, but there were never any formal lessons.  They just threw me in the deep end and I started swimming.

We have enrolled my son in formal lessons, since before he started kindergarten.  I sort of wanted him to get the graceful style down early on.  He has passed American Red Cross levels 1, 2, and 3.  I don't think we'll continue to level 4.  I'm satisfied with his mastery now, and have even had him out in the open sea snorkeling with me when he was only six.

None of us were ever required to have swimming lessons in our public schools, as far as I know.

[© tweed]

had to pass a swim test in undergrad

[minionofmidas]

knowing how to swim has a much more positive effect on my daily life than knowing basic algebra...

I never fully mastered either. My school thought rugby was a more fitting sport.

...and that is why you are a Conservative! j/k

[Torie]

knowing how to swim has a much more positive effect on my daily life than knowing basic algebra...

You will have difficultly valuing income real estate in CA then, which requires use of algebraic simultaneous equations, because as the purchase price goes up, so does the 1% property tax, thereby reducing the net income, thereby reducing its value. In other words, there are two linked moving targets, so you need to use one of those equations that has  x's and y's in it. See, sometimes this esoterica is useful in real life, outside nerdville. Who knew? 

[Platypus]

How often do I buy a house in California, though? I go swimming maybe 30 times a year.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

It wasn't required in high school, but I did in elementary school. I was terrified of the diving board and to this date have yet to dive off one. Honestly I'm even a little scared of a full immersion baptism to get my view toward water.