My sophomore summer so far has been pure bliss for two reasons: my flip phone and river dips. As a lifelong swimmer and former lifeguard, I’ve loved the Connecticut River since I arrived at Dartmouth, but I recognize it holds deeply traumatizing memories for countless other students.
According to an informal database compiled by former Hanover deputy fire chief Mike Hinsley, the area of the river between Hanover and Norwich has claimed over twenty-six victims since 1816, with accidental drownings accounting for most of the deaths. Despite this legacy, the required 50-yard swim test was eliminated in 2022, and the Class of 2026 was the first class in over a century to graduate without the test requirement. The decision followed multiple faculty committee votes and a final vote by the College’s entire faculty. Their rationale is flawed.
The initiative was originally designed to prepare students for military service, but its practicality holds regardless. Our school borders a major river that is undeniably central to student life, especially during sophomore summer.
Dartmouth eliminated the test for equity concerns, citing that those who failed it and were required to take a beginning swim class to pass it were “overwhelmingly students of color.” In the July-August 2026 issue of the Dartmouth Alumni magazine, Boer Deng ’10 cited similar logic for her continued support of the test’s elimination, noting that “more than three-quarters of children from families earning less than $50,000 a year do not know how to swim or swim well, according to a 2017 USA Swimming Foundation survey.”
Without a doubt, the lack of access to swim lessons and even community pools disproportionately affects students of color and low-income students. However, this disparity affirms the test’s necessity. The Red Cross recently reported that Black, Native American, and Hispanic children are two to eight times more likely to die by drowning than white children. The real equity issue at hand is the elimination of an initiative that keeps all students safe and shrinks the disparities between Dartmouth students.
The College described these swim classes, which count toward students’ three required Wellness credits, as an “additional graduation requirement.” By this standard, we should completely do away with any Dartmouth courses that Advanced Placement classes exempt students from taking. After all, those courses function as “an additional graduation requirement” for any student who attended a high school without AP classes. Dartmouth students arrive in Hanover with inherently unequal backgrounds, but the answer isn’t to eliminate requirements that will level the playing field. It’s to offer, and sometimes require, courses that help graduating seniors end up at the same finish line.
Dartmouth clearly recognizes that college students don’t always make the smartest decisions. While student freedom of choice is important, it has historically been limited when there are safety issues, which is why policies like the prohibition of hard alcohol and the freshman frat ban exist. A swim requirement policy is in the same vein.
Through First-Year Trips, the Dartmouth Outing Club and casual plunges, much of Dartmouth’s student body will interact with the River at some point, and eliminating the swim requirement excludes certain students from these opportunities. While some argue that those who don’t know how to swim just won’t, we’ve seen time and time again that students don’t adhere to this assumption.
Last week I went on a run with a friend, and he suggested a dip in the river afterwards to cool off. I dove right in and swam around a little, but he got in and out fairly quickly. “Yeah, I don’t really know how to swim that well,” he mentioned casually as we dried off.
A few days later, I was fishing by Ledyard when a canoer had to pick up a weak swimmer who had floated farther than intended from the dock and was struggling to get back.
Instead of teaching students how to swim, the College has banned swimming from College-owned properties except for during the summer term when a lifeguard is on duty, especially cracking down on Ledyard dock swimming during the offseason. While having lifeguards is positive, not all students adhere to College policies, and swimming in the river, whether at the Ledyard docks or across the river in Vermont, remains a popular pastime year-round. The only real education around safety comes from upperclassmen who warn younger students against dangers like swimming while intoxicated.
This past winter, the Dartmouth Community experienced yet another drowning tragedy with the death of Enzo La Hoz Calassara ’27, who died on the Linguistics FSP from hypoxic blackout. Aslı Tavaslı ’27 recently wrote an excellent article about this tragedy in The Dartmouth and exemplified just how important it is to teach every incoming student about swim safety, including hypoxic blackout.
In the alumni magazine Boer Deng ’10 tells the horror story of an earache on graduation and an anxious peer with no swimming experience forced to complete their test or not receive their diploma. It’s clear the old swim requirement policy was far from perfect, but today, the College has the opportunity to bring safety back to the river and the Dartmouth Community in a new way. Every incoming freshman, beginning with the class of 2030, should once again be required to complete a swim test during orientation. If they fail, or declare they can’t swim well, undergraduate deans should work with them to find time in their freshman schedule to take a free beginner swimming class.
Beyond the original swim test requirements, every student should also be educated and tested on swimming competency and water safety, including hypoxic blackout, the dangers of the Connecticut River and why it’s unsafe to swim alone, at night, in cold water or under the influence of substances.
The elimination of the Dartmouth swim test was a misguided attempt to make Dartmouth more equitable. A new and improved policy has the potential to actually fulfill that goal and provide students with skills that will serve them at Dartmouth and beyond.
Guest columns represent the views of their author(s), which are not necessarily those of The Dartmouth.
