Water Sports Merit Badge
The six requirements, with the swimmer test drawn as the three-edge gate it states itself to be, and the three towed requirements grouped so that the boat they all need is visible before anything is booked.
7 steps (8 parts inside them). · Version 1, published 13 August 2026 · About Water Sports Merit Badge
No questions answered
This is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody.
The steps
Stage 1 of 7
1 step
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1. Hazards, first aid and Safety Afloat, outside the gate Requirement
Three parts, none of them gated, and the first-aid list is longer here than on the paddle badges.
3 parts
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1(b). The first-aid list, and it includes spinal injury and head trauma Often forgotten This first-aid list carries spinal injury and concussion and head trauma, neither of which appears on the paddle badges. Being towed at speed is why. A hazard discussion carried over from Canoeing or Kayaking does not cover this requirement.
Stage 2 of 7
1 step
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2. Life jackets, the Water Sports Safety Code, and a promise Often forgotten Requirement
Two parts, neither gated. This is where the boat operator's obligations get discussed, which matters because you are about to depend on one.
Stage 3 of 7
1 step
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3. Pass the swimmer test: it gates requirements 4 through 6 Often forgotten Training
The Scouting America swimmer test, described in the Swimming merit badge pamphlet. It names 4 through 6, so requirements 1 and 2 are outside it.
The gate names requirements 4 through 6. Requirements 1 and 2 (six lettered parts, including the Water Sports Safety Code and life jacket fitting) are open to you before you take the swimmer test.
Stage 4 of 7
1 step
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4. Show the skier signals to the observer: in the boat, not on the bank Often forgotten Requirement
Skier safe, faster, slower, turns, back to dock, cut motor, skier in water. Shown to the safety observer in the boat, which makes this part of the water session rather than a quiz beforehand.
Usually comes after 3. Pass the swimmer test: it gates requirements 4 through 6.
Requirements 4, 5 and 6 are one session, not three. All of them need a boat, a driver and a safety observer: requirement 4 is the signals given to that observer, requirement 5 is the towed run, and requirement 6 needs deep water. Book them together. Requirement 4 in particular is often treated as a quiz on the bank, and the requirement says the signals are shown to the observer in the boat.
Stage 5 of 7
1 step
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5. The skiing or riding itself: three parts, reasonable control throughout Often forgotten Requirement
On two skis, one ski or a wakeboard. Deepwater start unaided, four wake crossings without falling, and a controlled fall and stop.
Usually comes after 3. Pass the swimmer test: it gates requirements 4 through 6.
Stage 6 of 7
1 step
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6. Bindings: on shore, then in deep water, then after a fall Often forgotten Requirement
The same adjustment done in three conditions, and the deep-water one is the reason this cannot be finished on the bank.
Usually comes after 3. Pass the swimmer test: it gates requirements 4 through 6.
Stage 7 of 7
1 step
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Counselor signs it off Milestone
The completion date is the date you met the requirements, not the date of the signature.
Usually comes after 6. Bindings: on shore, then in deep water, then after a fall.
Merit badge requirements are republished annually. A Scout beginning work uses the requirements as they stand then; a Scout already working may finish under the ones they started with. Guide to Advancement 7.0.4.3 governs which applies. This page records the date its copy was read. Check it against the official page before relying on it.
This plan is a planning aid: the current Boy Scouts of America publication is always the authority, and the sources used here are listed in full. Each step names its own.