<p>It’s hard to get through elementary school without learning to swim in Southern California.
Swimming pools are in every community, and in some communities, in every backyard. Many public middle and high schools have swimming units in P.E. every year, and have since I was a kid. And it’s not just in the affluent areas. </p>
<p>And then, we have the ocean, too. The affluent kids join Junior Guards in the summers, starting in the 6th grade, where they meet at the beach five mornings a week and swim in the ocean. We have some pretty competitive high school swim teams as a result.
Yet, I don’t know of any California colleges that require a swim test for graduation.</p>