Rowing
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Rowing Requirements
Current Scouts BSA requirements
as of June 6, 2026
as of June 6, 2026
1.
Do the following:
a.
Explain to your counselor the most likely hazards you may
encounter while participating in rowing activities, including
weather- and water-related hazards, and what you should do to
anticipate, help prevent, mitigate, and respond to these
hazards.
b.
Review prevention, symptoms, and first-aid treatment for the
following injuries or illnesses that can occur while rowing:
blisters, hypothermia, heat-related illnesses, dehydration,
sunburn, sprains, and strains.
c.
Review the Scouting America Safety Afloat policy. Explain to
your counselor how this applies to rowing activities.
2.
Before completing requirements 4, 5, 6, and 7, successfully complete the
Scouting America swimmer test.
NOTE: See the Swimming merit badge pamphlet
for details about the Scouting America swimmer test.
3.
Review the characteristics of life jackets most appropriate for rowing
and why one must always be worn while rowing. Then demonstrate how to
select and fit a life jacket.
4.
Do ONE of the following:
a.
Alone or with a passenger, do the following in either a
fixed-seat or sliding-seat rowboat:
1.
Launch.
2.
Row in a straight line for 100 yards. Stop, pivot, and
return to the starting point.
3.
Backwater in a straight line for 25 yards. Make a turn
underway and return to the starting point.
4.
Land and moor or rack your craft.
5.
Tie the following mooring knots—clove hitch, roundturn
with two half-hitches, bowline, Wellman's knot, and
mooring hitch.
b.
Participate as a rowing team member in a competitive rowing
meet. The team may be sponsored by a school, club, or Scout
unit. The meet must include competition between two or more
teams with different sponsors. Complete at least 10 hours of
team practice prior to the meet.
5.
Do ONE of the following:
a.
In a fixed-seat rowboat, come alongside a pier and help a
passenger into the boat. Pull away from the pier, change
positions with your passenger, and demonstrate sculling over the
stern or side. Resume your rowing position, return alongside the
pier, and help your passenger out of the boat.
b.
In a sliding-seat rowboat, come alongside a pier and, with your
buddy assisting you, get out onto the pier. Help your buddy into
the boat. Reverse roles with your buddy and repeat the
procedure.
6.
Participate in a swamped boat drill including righting and stabilizing
the craft, reboarding in deep water, and making headway. Tell why you
should stay with a swamped boat.
7.
Alone in a rowboat, push off from the shore or a pier. Row 20 yards to a
swimmer. While giving instructions to the swimmer, pivot the boat so
that the swimmer can hold on to the stern. Tow the swimmer to shore.
8.
Describe the following:
a.
Types of craft used in commercial, competitive, and recreational
rowing
b.
Four common boatbuilding materials. Give some positive and
negative points of each
c.
Types of oarlocks used in competitive and recreational rowing
9.
Discuss the following:
a.
The advantage of feathering oars while rowing
b.
Precautions regarding strong winds and heavy waves, and
boat-handling procedures in rough water and windstorms
c.
How to properly fit out and maintain a boat in season, and how
to prepare and store a boat for winter
d.
How to determine the proper length of oars
e.
The differences between fixed-seat and sliding-seat rowing
f.
The different meanings of the term sculling in fixed-
and sliding-seat rowing
g.
The health benefits from rowing for exercise