Editing Uppsala University (section)

==Athletics==
Sports play a very small role in the life of the university, compared to British and especially U.S. universities, but have existed in various forms since the early 17th century. Uppsala University is more noted for its musical and [[Choir|choral]] traditions. Both have partial roots in the 17th-century institution of extracurricular exercises for students from the nobility.

===The {{lang|la|exercitiae}}===
[[File:Exercise yard - from Busser, Om Upsala Stad etc.jpg|thumb|The Exercise Yard in c. 1770; contemporary engraving]]
To ease the recruitment of students from the nobility, the university started in the 1630s to offer training in a number of {{lang|la|exercitiae}} or "exercises" (Swedish: {{lang|sv|exercitier}}) deemed necessary for the well-rounded education of a young nobleman: [[equestrianism|riding]], [[fencing]], [[dance]], [[drawing]] and modern languages such as [[French language|French]] and [[Italian language|Italian]]. The initiative came from Chancellor [[Axel Oxenstierna]], who saw the value in a well-educated class of [[civil servant]]s and the danger to his own class if its members would fall behind in academic education compared to those students who came from the lower estates. An "exercise yard," built for the riding and fencing exercises, was demolished in the late 19th century to give place to the new University Hall. Modern languages were made part of the regular academic curriculum in the 19th century. The surviving "exercises" include:
*''Fencing'' – Arranged in collaboration with ''Upsala Fäktning'', a private fencing club.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.upsalafaktning.se/|title=Upsala Fäktning|website=Upsala Fäktning}}</ref> 
*''Gymnastics and sports'' – Located at the Art Nouveau University Gymnastics Hall, colloquially known as ''Svettis'' (from the [[Swedish language|Swedish]] word for [[sweat]])
*''Riding'' – Arranged by the equestrian department of the University, which has its own stables. Leaders of the activities are the Academy Stable Master and the ''Inspector Equitandi''
*''Music'' – Leader of the musical activities is the ''director musices'', who is the [[Conducting|conductor]] of the [[Royal Academic Orchestra]]; the current Director Musices is Professor Stefan Karpe
*''Drawing'' – The university appoints an established artist as Drawing Master; free weekly [[croquis]] and other lessons are offered in the southern tower of Uppsala Castle

===Other sports===
Besides the {{lang|la|exercitiae}}, other sports have had a presence in Uppsala student life. The [[Upsala Simsällskap]], "Uppsala Swimming Society," which is the oldest swimming club in the world, was founded in 1796 by the mathematician [[Jöns Svanberg]]. It had no formal connection to the university, but all its earliest members came from academic life. Svanberg even arranged a mock graduation ceremony, a ''simpromotion'', in a parody of the university ceremonies, where those who had graduated from its swimming training were awarded "degrees" of master (''magister'') and bachelor (''kandidat''). These degrees stuck, and Swedish swimming schools still use these degrees for different levels of swimming skills.

An attempt was made in the 1870s to introduce academic rowing after the [[Oxbridge]] model. The [[Stockholms nation|Stockholms Nation]] acquired a rowing boat in 1877, soon followed by the [[Göteborgs nation, Uppsala|G]][[Nathan Söderblom|ö]]<nowiki/>teborgs nation, and for a number of years rowing competitions were held between teams from the two nations. Although rowing never got the strong position it has at the English universities, an annual Uppsala-Lund [[regatta]] has been arranged since 1992, between rowing teams from Uppsala and [[Lund University]]. The race is held on the [[Fyris River]] in Uppsala on even years, and on a river in the vicinity of Lund on odd years. Each year there is at least one full eight crew with cox competing, with both men's and women's teams present. With the recent victory for Uppsala in 2005, the score stands 24–23 in Uppsala's favour.