DevonDiver
N/A
The "swim test" just is a hold-over from the old para-military training.
I don't think that a leisurely, un-timed, 200m swim is reminiscent of any military training I have completed or witnessed.... LOL
Unless, of course, you are talking about the Italian military, but even they have to complete a 15 minute tread water whilst holding a 1.5kg white flag above their heads...
While it's nice to be able to cover some distance, I don't really think it's a deal-breaker.
If you can't think of one single reason why basic swimming capacity is necessary for a scuba diver, then you've obviously not encountered any incidents during your time as a diver.
The mistake is to believe that your lack of experience with incidents correlates to a 'fact' that incidents don't occur.
The is recreational SCUBA. The worst that should happen is that the diver surfaces and waits for the boat. As long as they can manage to hang out on the surface and not drown, that should be good enough.
I think the whole point of the swim test is to ensure that the diver does, in fact, have the capability to "hang out at the surface and not drown".