Swim tests are one of your most important jobs as captains as they are required for every rower and cox at Oxford. It is the responsibility of clubs to ensure that their club has safe practices, including requiring all rowers and coxes to be sufficiently proficient swimmers. These rules, from OURCs and COUR, are designed to assist club safety and will be strictly enforced. OURCs insists that all event participants have passed an OURCs swim test. For full information, which all rowers should read, see: Swim Tests.

The rules are summarised as follows (see 2.4.a. for further details):

• Everyone must be tested at the first available opportunity.
• After an athlete's 5th session on the water, they must pass a swim test before conducting further water outings.
• Upon failure of a swim test, that athlete is prohibited from water outings until they subsequently pass a swim test.
• Swim tests remain valid for six years.

Any breach of the latter two rules will be treated as a Major Transgression, and it is the responsibility of the clubs to check the pass/fail lists published by the RowSab after each swim test session. If you have any queries about the above rules, contact the Rowing Sabbatical Officer at sabbatical@ourcs.co.uk.

Swim Test Booking Procedure

A brief guide intended for those taking a swim test is avaiable here.

 

Location

Swim tests take place in the Rosenblatt Pool at the University's Iffley Road Sports Centre.

 

Booking

Clubs will be emailed via the OURCs mailing lists once booking for swim tests is open and can book them via SuperSaaS, a guide to which is available here.  Particularly in Michaelmas Term, there may restrictions on how many tests can be booked per club: follow the advice in the email. Bookings can be amended or cancelled by contacting the RowSab (sabbatical@ourcs.co.uk), up until the cancellation deadline they have set, generally 6pm the day before.

 

Pricing

Swim tests are charged directly to the boat club. The price is determined by the cost of pool hire multiplied by the proportion of the total tests in a given period, generally a term, which were taken by the club. I.e. if pool hire is £1000 and 500 tests are taken, the unit cost will be £2. If St Digworth's College BC take 50 tests, they will be charged £100 (1000 * 50 / 500).

 

The Test

You will need to bring with you

• a valid Bodcard if a current student (any photo-ID if not a current student);
• shorts or leggings, and a t-shirt with sleeves (must be loose fitting, no vests or sleeveless tops) to wear during the test;
• a towel, dry change of clothes and bag for the wet clothes after the test.

You may wear a swimming costume underneath the clothing. White clothes tend to go semi-transparent when wet.
You may not wear goggles of any kind for the test.

You must sign in at the OURCs desk opposite the main reception for the result of your test to be recorded.

At present the test consists of

• (wearing a t-shirt, and shorts or leggings as a minimum);
• swimming 50m (any stroke excluding backstroke);
• treading water for 2 minutes: when treading water you are expected to have your full head above the water and have your airways open; and
• a surface dive and swim for 5m fully submerged under water.

All testing is carried out by qualified personnel.

 

Failing a Swim Test

• If a rower/cox fails, then from that moment onwards they are not permitted to be on the water. This means that any further usage of their 5-session allowance before being tested is not permitted. They are NOT permitted to be on the water even with lifejackets or buoyancy aids.
• Someone will fail if they fail to complete any part of the test above to the satisfaction of the tester. The two most common causes of failure are failing to tread water for 2 minutes with their airways clear and not being completely submerged when performing the 5m underwater swim.
• Treading water: people tend to keep far too little of their head above water to be confident of them doing so on a river; fatigue is a common factor and people may wish to regain some fitness prior to the test.
• Underwater swim: please remember that a surface dive does not allow for pushing off a wall and is conducted in the middle of the pool. Many fail to submerge themselves properly before beginning the 5m swim.

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