National Outdoor Badge for Aquatics

What it asks

1. First Class rank, or the Sea Scout Apprentice rank, or Venturing Ranger Award requirements 1 through 6.
2. Swimming merit badge, and either Lifesaving merit badge or the Venturing Ranger Lifesaver elective. For Sea Scouts, the Swimming merit badge requirements are part of the Ordinary rank and the Lifesaving ones part of the Able rank.
3. The Mile Swim Award.
4. One of Canoeing, Fishing, Fly-Fishing, Kayaking, Rowing, Scuba Diving, Small-Boat Sailing, Water Sports or Whitewater merit badge, or the Ranger Fishing, Scuba or Watercraft elective, then 25 hours on the water using what it taught you.
5. 50 hours in all of swimming, canoeing, fishing, fly-fishing, kayaking, rowing, scuba, small-boat sailing, stand up paddleboarding, water sports or whitewater under the auspices of Scouting America, including the time from requirements 2 to 4.

The six badges

This is one of six National Outdoor Badges: camping, hiking, aquatics, conservation, riding and adventure. Each is a segment that sits around a center emblem, which comes with your first one. Gold and silver devices on a segment recognize work beyond the badge. Awards Central also lists a National Medal for Outdoor Achievement, but scouting.org does not publish its requirements; ask your council.

What this page is

The National Outdoor Badge for Aquatics, drawn so Swimming and Lifesaving come before the Mile Swim and the watercraft badge, and the 50-hour total runs underneath them all. 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.