Mile Swim Award

Four steps, in order

1. The swimmer test: 100 yards in one swim with a sharp turn, the last 25 an easy resting backstroke.
2. Learn, through discussion and practice, how skill, stamina, stroke choice and pace affect swimming a long way.
3. Pre-qualify: a continuous quarter mile, or otherwise show the counselor you are ready.
4. Swim the mile under safe conditions, on a course the counselor approves.

What the counselor notes allow

Aquatics Supervision's notes to counselors say the mile may be any mix of strokes with no time limit. A swimmer may pause in deep water by floating or treading water, but not by standing or holding the side. Goggles are allowed, and wet suits in cold water; flotation devices are not. Pool laps are fine, and open and flip turns are both allowed.

The same notes let a counselor accept other evidence for requirement 3: the 400-yard swim from Lifesaving merit badge, a lifeguard course's distance swim, or regular swim-team training.

Who can earn it

Scouts BSA members, Venturers, Sea Scouts and Explorers, and adult leaders in those programs. It is also a requirement of the National Outdoor Badge for Aquatics.

What this page is

The Mile Swim Award, drawn so the swimmer test and the quarter-mile qualifier come before the mile, as the counselor notes intend. It is not a copy of the requirements: each step is a short label with a link to the official requirements, which are what actually governs.