<p>What do you think of the Swim Test?</p>
<p>Are there any competitive swimmers (varsity and USS-level) out there applying to Cornell 2009?</p>
<p>the swim test is actually really easy.
i was pretty stressed out about it before hand, but once you jump in the water, it passes by really quickly.</p>
<p>I'm applying to Cornell, but I'm not really stressed about the test. I swam soph. and junior year and have worked as a lifeguard. It should be pretty easy! :)</p>
<p>I'm actually really stoked about the PE requirements though. You can take yoga and rock climbing. How cool is -that?-</p>
<p>I went on the tour and tried really hard not to laugh out loud when the crowd of students began to freak out over the swim test. Some was like "Oh my god" or "what if I drown?"</p>
<p>It's just amazing that most of these students have accomplished a lot of significant things, yet they ignore the easier thing like...learn how to swim</p>
<p>^lol i took advanced figure skating and yoga :)</p>
<p>I competed at a pretty high level in high school and had to laugh when I completed the swim test a good length in front of everybody else in my heat.</p>
<p>Laurstar07, I'm a figure skater too! If I get accepted, we have to go skating.</p>
<p>CayugaRed2005, is the pool nice?</p>
<p>The pools are old....my boss and I spoke to the men's swim coach while we were lifeguarding one morning and he said the condition of the pools often makes recruitment hard for him....but the team still manages to kick butt :-)</p>
<p>I preferred the Teagle pool for my masters team workouts out b/c I often found the Newman pool too warm and while the Teagle pool was freezing...it felt better to be in the there after working out for an hour.</p>
<p>Teagle used to be top of the line when it was built... 50 years ago. It actually has a separate 20 yard pool for lap swimming.</p>
<p>But yeah, the pools are just about the worst thing about Cornell. One of the aims of the capital campaign is to build a new pool at Helen Newman, but there is nothing in the works for new varsity facilities for a long time. Cornell just doesn't have the swimming history that places like Harvard and Princeton have. A lot more money (understandably) goes into wrestling, hockey, crew, and lacrosse. Hell, even equestrian and polo.</p>
<p>One funny note about the swim team. A couple of years ago the hockey team was getting rid of their sweaters and were just going to throw them out/raffle them off to charity. The swim team found out about it and took the sweaters to use as their warm ups:</p>
<p>Cornell</a> University - Men's Swimming and Diving Announces Class of 2012</p>
<p>The swim team made some waves two years ago when they swept their Ivy competition in dual meets. But they still have never won an EISL championship. Ever.</p>
<p>Haha...yeah I've seen the picture. That is pretty funny. I didn't notice that until you told me it was hockey's shirt (clearly I'm not a hockey fan).</p>
<p>About the swim test, do many people jump in the same time and swim? Or one by one?</p>
<p>I would imagine it's like a heat in a swim meet, where you have about six-seven participants, one in each lane of the pool (not sure how large Cornell's pool is). They blow the whistle, you swim, you get out and dry off-- and the next heat enters the pool.</p>
<p>^this is true.
at least for the girls, there's just a giant line. you hand in your ID card, jump in the pool, swim down back and down, get your ID card, and leave.</p>
<p>I don't know what it is about swimming, but this test absolutely exhausted!!! me. I was not, and am not, grossly out of shape either.</p>
<p>I would much rather have a pool on West than have a nicer one in Helen Newman!</p>
<p>Unfortunately West doesn't have a whole lotta space. Besides, Teagle isn't all that far from West.</p>
<p>how many miles (?) do you have to swim? and is it timed/is there a lot of pressure to go fast?</p>
<p>.0426 miles</p>
<p>No time limit, just don’t touch the sides or bottom</p>
<p>that’s good…also do you have to do professional strokes or can you even doggy paddle/do whatever you want? :P</p>
<p>you can doggy paddle, one lap has to be on your back, but you can do some sort of back doggy paddle if you want, just need to finish.</p>
<p>Really though its not hard to learn how to do freestyle, which is much more efficient than doggy paddle</p>
<p>haha, ok, thanks!</p>