

May, 2014
Swimming Worksheet
Requirements for the Swimming merit badge:
- Do the following:
- Explain to your counselor how Scouting's Safe Swim Defense plan anticipates, helps prevent and mitigate, and provides responses to likely hazards you may encounter during swimming activities.
- Discuss the prevention and treatment of health concerns that could occur while swimming, including hypothermia, dehydration, sunburn, heat exhaustion, heatstroke, muscle cramps, hyperventilation, spinal injury, stings and bites, and cuts and scrapes.
- Before doing the following requirements, successfully complete the BSA swimmer test: Jump feet first into water over the head in depth. Level off and swim 75 yards in a strong manner using one or more of the following strokes: sidestroke, breaststroke, trudgen, or crawl; then swim 25 yards using an easy, resting backstroke. The 100 yards must be completed in one swim without stops and must include at least one sharp turn. After completing the swim, rest by floating.
- Swim continuously for 150 yards using the following strokes in good form and in a strong manner: front crawl or trudgen for 25 yards, back crawl for 25 yards, sidestroke for 25 yards, breaststroke for 25 yards, and elementary backstroke for 50 yards.
- Do the following:
- Demonstrate water rescue methods by reaching with your arm or leg, by reaching with a suitable object, and by throwing lines and objects. Explain why swimming rescues should not be attempted when a reaching or throwing rescue is possible, and explain why and how a rescue swimmer should avoid contact with the victim.
- With a helper and a practice victim, show a line rescue both as tender and as rescuer. The practice victim should be approximately 30 feet from shore in deep water.
- Do the following:
- Float faceup in a resting position for at least one minute.
- Demonstrate survival floating for at least five minutes.
- While wearing a properly fitted U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket, demonstrate the HELP and huddle positions. Explain their purposes.
- Explain why swimming or survival floating will hasten the onset of hypothermia in cold water.
- In water over your head, but not to exceed 10 feet, do each of the following:
- Use the feet first method of surface diving and bring an object up from the bottom.
- Do a headfirst surface dive (pike or tuck), and bring the object up again.
- Do a headfirst surface dive to a depth of at least 5 feet and swim underwater for three strokes. Come to the surface, take a breath, and repeat the sequence twice.
- Following the guidelines set in the BSA Safe Swim Defense, in water at least 7 feet deep*, show a standing headfirst dive from a dock or pool deck. Show a long shallow dive, also from the dock or pool deck.
*If your state, city, or local community requires a water depth greater than 7 feet, it is important to abide by that mandate. - Explain the health benefits of regular aerobic exercise, and discuss why swimming is favored as both fitness and therapeutic exercise.
Swimming Worksheet
Comments:
Mar 09, 2015 - Johanna
If attending a swimming merit badge activity, will they have the scout complete the BSA beginning swimmer test there? Or will it have to be completed prior to that? Do they get something stated that they have passed this test as it is required for other merit badges?
Mar 18, 2015 - HeatherJohanna,
Most Swimming Merit Badge Counselors (including myself) want to see a current run on the full BSA swimmer test (100 yards) in person. This gives us a *really* good idea of the current swimming ability of the scout and what we're going to need to help them work on.
If your Scout is not yet capable of passing the BSA beginner test, I would not enroll them in the swimming merit badge. The leap from a 50 feet test (16 yards) to a 100 yard and then a 150 yard test is immense.
We try very hard in our troop to set our boys up to succeed. Consider signing your son up for swimming lessons and helping him become a stronger swimmer prior to attending the merit badge. He'll learn more, enjoy it more, and be set on a path to achieve success that's within his reach because the basics will be in place.
If swim lessons are not possible, please speak with leadership as the full BSA swim test (100 yards) is a rank requirement (1st Class) so the troop should be equipped to assist you.
Mar 28, 2015 - Henry J. Legere Jr.I have considered a scout who has earned the mile swim patch as evidence that he has passed the BSA beginner swim test. Not to mention the full swim test. Thirty years ago I had a Life Scout who had a Red Cross WSI one certification I had no problem certifying his swimming abilities.
Aug 03, 2015 - Charleen WI read the requirements above to be pick up an object in deep water, not to exceed 10 ft as a non specific object. At Summer Camp, the object was 10 lbs. Is that the requirement or can it be lighter than that? A 70 lb boy will have a bit of a problem picking up a 10 lb weight even if he is a really good swimmer?
Aug 03, 2015 - Scouter Paul@Charleen - The requirement does not specify the weight of the
object. It could be a plastic ring, or an anvil, or even a 10lb
weight.
I expect they used a 10lb weight because that is defined in a Lifesaving merit badge requirement.
I expect they used a 10lb weight because that is defined in a Lifesaving merit badge requirement.

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