In 1926, Sweden reportedly launched an ambitious campaign to turn the entire country into a nation of swimmers, or, as one American newspaper dramatically put it, “human fish.”
The effort was not merely about recreation. With approximately 340 people drowning in Sweden each year, authorities were determined to make swimming a basic national skill.
Teachers who could not swim would no longer be hired, boys who failed swimming tests could be denied passage in their other examinations, and non-swimmers could be barred from government positions.
Sweden to Become Nation of Human Fish As Edict Directs All to Learn Swimming
STOCKHOLM, Sweden. — All Swedes must swim.
The government has grown tired of having so many drownings every year and has started a drastic campaign to force everyone to learn how to swim.
Hereafter, non-swimming school teachers will not be employed, and boys who cannot pass swimming tests will not be passed in their other examinations. Non-swimmers will not be named to official positions.
For years the Swedish sports organization has not permitted sportsmen to participate in any sort of contests if they did not have certificates of swimming ability.
The average number of deaths annually from drowning in Sweden is about 340, and the authorities are determined to bring this down.
Source: Evening Star. Washington, D.C. July 5, 1926.
