UK Royal Navy recruits no longer need to know how to swim as enlistment problems mount, report says

Naval cadets taking a swim around a training ship in 1916. Mirrorpix | Getty Images|Mirrorpix | Getty Images

• The UK’s Royal Navy has relaxed its entry requirements due to recruitment problems.
• New recruits no longer need to prove swimming proficiency prior to joining.
• This change aims to streamline enlistment, but internal critics called it a “race to the bottom.”

The UK’s Royal Navy has relaxed its entry requirements for new recruits, no longer requiring them to demonstrate swimming proficiency prior to joining, Sky News reported.

A source within the defense community told the publication that the change was “a sign of true desperation to increase recruitment numbers” to the service, which was once the world’s most powerful navy.

It exemplifies how the Royal Navy, the most feared world sea power in the 19th and early 20th centuries, is struggling to stay fit for purpose in the 21st century.

A Royal Navy spokesperson rebuffed claims of lowered standards, telling Sky News that all recruits would still undergo a swim test during training.

The spokesperson said the adjustment aims to remove barriers for non-swimmers or weak swimmers, streamlining the enlistment process without compromising operational readiness.

But the Sky source argued that such a move could lead to prolonged training periods.

Concerns have also been raised about the potential need for additional swimming instructors to accommodate the influx of recruits requiring remedial training, the UK news outlet reported.

“I absolutely get that there is a growing issue around young people being able to swim and therefore, maintaining the swim test could be seen as reducing the ‘pool of eligible candidates,” but at what point do we say enough is enough?” they continued.

They added that there was “outrage, unadulterated utter outrage” over the move internally. “It’s a race to the bottom — literally the bottom.”

Business Insider contacted the Royal Navy for comment.

One UK politician told British ministers in March that falling levels of recruitment in the British armed forces presented a national security crisis.

“We need to get back towards 80,000, 90,000 regular forces, we need to grow the reserve force – 30,000 is not enough even if that 30,000 were real, which I don’t believe it is – we have to significantly grow the reserve force,” MP Danny Kruger said.

Embarrassing setbacks

HMS Queen Elizabeth British Royal Navy

Alongside struggles to recruit new candidates, the Royal Navy’s fleet has suffered several recent setbacks.

In February, the Royal Navy’s flagship, the HMS Queen Elizabeth, was forced to withdraw from NATO Exercise Steadfast Defender, the alliance’s largest military exercise since the Cold War, after an issue with one of its propellers was discovered at the last minute.

In 2022, its sister ship, the HMS Prince of Wales, broke down around the Isle of Wight off mainland England’s south coast after experiencing a similar problem.

Meanwhile, the UK is stretching its naval capabilities by providing protection to vessels in the Red Sea targeted by Houthi rebels.

“There is a dissonance between the UK’s military ambitions and its capabilities,” Richard Barrons, former head of Britain’s armed forces, said, per the Financial Times. “The risk is that we get drawn into a conflict and can’t sustain our presence, and this exposes a strategic weakness

If you enjoyed this story, be sure to follow Business Insider on Microsoft Start.