mellenberger65

It will be a sad day when there are no lakes at camp. That was always a big draw for me.

We do some "between camp" swim tests before aquatic trips like canoeing or sailing for boys that did not go to camp the previous summer. We noamally make arangements to go to the Y and use there facilities and then one of our leaders is a certified for swift water rescue rescue with the fire department which covers the "BSA Swimming and Water Rescue" requirements (and then some). I agree with the previous post that suggested that someone in the troop become certified. It would be a good idea for every troop to someone certified in every area that certificaation is required. (Or at least team up with a neighboring troop and cover all between the two troops). Yea, I know... wishful thinking.

Thats the way I did it (although 30 yeas ago). We had a 1/3 mile loop set up on the lake that we circled 3 times. We had 2 rowboats with Lifeguards and rescue gear right with us the whole time. Boy time flies when youer getting old.

Do they do the mile swim in a pool now? I would wear out with all the turning.

It does (both the document and the insight) Thanks and have a blessed day,

The "Dog Paddle" option was applied to me when I was a young scout. Every year at camp, they would make me try to float and I could not. They would then ask me to do a dead mans float. After returning to the surface of the lake with my foot covered in mud from the lake bed (and after the laughter had died down, I was informed that rocks sank slower than I did and was then asked to dog paddle for 2 minutes in order to pass the swim test. This was back in the late 70's early 80's so policies may have changed but unfortunately body make up has not kept up with policy. I see boys now that can swim like a fish but float like an old caddy.

Unfortunate waiting for them to grow wont work. There are physical attributes that can prevent a person from floating other than lung capacity. I personally sank lick a rock well into my 30's. I still do not float well and will sink somewhat. What I really need is a link to the official scouting regulations to determine what the official stance is. Thank you very much for your reply, Mark

I have been trying to find form 20-290 which I believe contains the official requirements for passing the basic swim test but I am not having much luck. If anyone has a link to this, i would greatly appreciate a post with the link. What I am specifically trying to find, is information regarding floating. Based on personal experience, i know that some kids just will not float. In these cases it used to be acceptable for the boy to "dog paddle" for a period of time instead of floating. All I can find now however are notes saying that this is no longer acceptable. If this is true, what do we do about those boys that cannot float because of their body makeup?