Rowing is a great way to get on the water, build strength, and learn to handle a boat with skill. You will learn safe boating habits, practice real rescue skills, and get comfortable moving a rowboat exactly where you want it. Every skill here is done with trained aquatics supervision.
Why it's worth it
Rowing gives you real control of a boat with nothing but your arms, legs, and timing. Once you can row straight, turn, and land smoothly at a dock, a lake becomes a place you can explore on your own terms. You'll also learn rescue skills that let you help someone in trouble on the water. For some Scouts it leads to high school or college crew, one of the most demanding team sports there is, and for everyone it builds confidence and strength.
Start this week
- Ask your Scoutmaster for the name of a Rowing counselor, and send them a short message with a parent copied to set up a first meeting.
- Find out when you can take the Scouting America swimmer test, at summer camp or a pool with qualified staff.
- Read through Safety Afloat with a parent and be ready to explain what each point means.
- Ask your Scoutmaster whether summer camp or a troop outing has rowboats where you could practice.
Plan ahead: Requirement 2, the swimmer test, comes before any of the on-the-water work. Pass it first, ideally at the start of summer camp, so you have time to practice rowing skills.
Stay safe
- Follow Safety Afloat: qualified supervision, a properly fitted life jacket worn at all times, and the buddy system.
- Practice swamped boat drills and swimmer rescues only with trained aquatics staff watching.
- Get off the water at the first sign of lightning or rising wind.
Requirements · 9
Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab) (updated 2025).
Note: Pass the Scouting America swimmer test (requirement 2) before doing requirements 4 through 7.
- Requirement 1
Safety
Tips for this section: Learn the main hazards on the water, like cold water and bad weather, and how Safety Afloat keeps your group safe.
Example for this section: Explain hypothermia, heat reactions, and sunburn, and how to prevent and treat each. Then walk through Safety Afloat point by point, like how qualified supervision, life jackets, and a buddy system each prevent a different kind of accident.
- Requirement 1a
Explain to your counselor the hazards you're most likely to meet while rowing, including weather and water hazards, and how to anticipate, help prevent, reduce, and respond to them
- Requirement 1b
Review how to prevent, spot, and treat these rowing problems: blisters, sunburn, dehydration, hypothermia, heat-related illnesses, sprains, and strains
- Requirement 1c
Review the Scouting America Safety Afloat policy and explain to your counselor how it applies to rowing
- Requirement 2
Pass the Scouting America swimmer test before you do requirements 4, 5, 6, and 7
Tip: Practice your swimming at a pool with a lifeguard, then ask your camp's aquatics staff when you can take the test.
- Requirement 3
Review what makes a life jacket best for rowing and why you must always wear one when rowing, then show how to pick and fit one
Tip: Try on a few life jackets and check the fit with an adult. A good fit stays snug when someone lifts it at the shoulders.
- Requirement 4
Rowing skills. Choose 1 of 2
Tips for this section: Spend time rowing at summer camp or with a local rowing club. Short, regular practice builds smooth strokes fast.
Example for this section: Row a straight course to a buoy and back, turn the boat in place with one oar pushing and one pulling, and back the boat into a slip. Have a buddy watch and tell you whether your boat wanders off line.
- Requirement 4a
Row a boat, alone or with a passenger
- Requirement 4a1
In a fixed-seat or sliding-seat rowboat, launch the boat
- Requirement 4a2
Row straight for 100 yards, stop, pivot, and row back to where you started
- Requirement 4a3
Backwater in a straight line for 25 yards, turn while moving, and return to where you started
- Requirement 4a4
Land the boat, then moor it or put it on its rack
- Requirement 4a5
Tie these knots used for mooring: clove hitch, bowline, roundturn with two half-hitches, mooring hitch, and Wellman's knot
- Requirement 4b
Row on a team in a competitive meet (school, club, or Scout unit team) against at least one team from a different sponsor, after at least 10 hours of team practice beforehand
- Requirement 5
Pier and passenger skills. Choose 1 of 2
Tips for this section: Practice landing gently next to a dock with a buddy, then help them step in and out while the boat stays steady.
Example for this section: Approach the pier slowly at an angle, ship or pull in the oar on the pier side, and come alongside gently. Hold the boat steady against the dock while your buddy steps in at the center, keeping their weight low.
- Requirement 5a
In a fixed-seat rowboat, pull up beside a pier and help a passenger in. Row away, trade places with your passenger, and show sculling over the stern or side. Return to your seat, row back to the pier, and help the passenger get out
- Requirement 5b
In a sliding-seat rowboat, pull up beside a pier and get out onto it with your buddy's help. Help your buddy into the boat, then switch roles and do it again
- Requirement 6
Take part in a swamped boat drill: right and steady the boat, climb back in from deep water, and make headway. Explain why staying with a swamped boat is important
Tip: Do the swamped boat drill in calm, shallow water with an aquatics instructor guiding you.
- Requirement 7
By yourself in a rowboat, push off from shore or a pier and row 20 yards to a swimmer. Coach the swimmer while you pivot so they can grab the stern, then tow them to shore
Tip: Practice with a buddy acting as the swimmer, under a lifeguard's watch, so you learn to approach and tow safely.
- Requirement 8
Boats and gear
Tips for this section: Look at the boats at your camp waterfront and compare their shapes, materials, and how the oarlocks work.
Example for this section: Compare a flat-bottom rowboat, a round-bottom rowboat, and a racing shell. Explain why boats are made of aluminum, fiberglass, or wood, and show the difference between a fixed oarlock and a rowlock that swivels.
- Requirement 8a
Describe the kinds of boats used for commercial, competitive, and recreational rowing
- Requirement 8b
Describe four common materials used to build boats, with some pros and cons of each
- Requirement 8c
Describe the kinds of oarlocks used for competitive and recreational rowing
- Requirement 9
Rowing know-how
Tips for this section: Ask an experienced rower to show you feathering, then talk about checking the weather and caring for the boat after each trip.
- Requirement 9a
Discuss why feathering your oars helps when rowing
- Requirement 9b
Discuss precautions for strong wind and big waves, and how to handle a boat in rough water and windstorms
- Requirement 9c
Discuss how to fit out and maintain a boat during the season and how to get it ready and store it for winter
- Requirement 9d
Discuss how to figure out the right oar length
- Requirement 9e
Discuss how fixed-seat rowing differs from sliding-seat rowing
- Requirement 9f
Discuss what "sculling" means in fixed-seat rowing compared with sliding-seat rowing
- Requirement 9g
Discuss how rowing for exercise benefits your health
Places to visit
Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.
A council camp waterfront
Trained aquatics staff can teach, test, and supervise every rowing skill with the right boats and safety gear.
How: Ask your Scoutmaster which camp sessions offer Rowing, and sign up with your troop.
A rowing club boathouse
You'll see racing shells, oars, and how crews carry and launch a long boat together.
How: A parent can check the club's website for learn-to-row programs or open houses and ask whether visitors can watch a practice.
Where it can lead
- Waterfront directorRuns camp or park waterfronts and trains lifeguards; many start as camp aquatics staff.
- Rowing coachCoaches crews at high schools, colleges, and clubs.
- Coast Guard memberHandles small boats in search, rescue, and law enforcement on the water.
- Marine technicianMaintains and repairs boats; often trained at a technical school.
Ask yourself
- What part of rowing felt awkward at first, and when did it start to click?
- How did you and your buddy work together in the swamped boat drill?
- What would you do differently if the weather changed while you were on the water?
- How confident would you feel helping a swimmer in trouble now?
- Where would you like to row next, and who would you take with you?
Good questions to ask your counselor or a waterfront director
- What's the most common mistake you see new rowers make?
- How do you decide whether the weather is too rough to go out?
- What's the safest way to help someone who's in trouble in the water?
- How do I keep the boat going straight when the wind is pushing it?
- How could I keep rowing after I finish the badge?
Helpful reads
- Earning a merit badge, step by step, From picking a badge to getting the final signature: how to find a counselor, set up meetings safely, work the requirements, and keep your progress., Youth · Families · 6 min read
- Contacting counselors, experts, and organizations, Email and phone scripts, who to ask for, how to follow up, and how to say thanks, with a parent copied every time., Youth · Families · 7 min read
- Choosing your next merit badge, How to pick a badge you'll actually finish: start with what you care about, balance Eagle-required and just-for-fun badges, and make the most of camp., Youth · Families · 6 min read
For leaders & parents
- Plan rowing practice during summer camp or with a certified aquatics instructor present.
- Use a short troop outing to a lake with rowboats to let scouts build confidence before the badge work.
People & places that can help
- Merit badge counselor — Talk with them early; they can explain what's expected.
- Council camp waterfront staff — Trained aquatics staff can teach and test many skills.
- Local rowing club — Some clubs offer youth learn-to-row sessions.
- American Red Cross (opens in a new tab) — Swimming and water safety classes.
- Safety Afloat (opens in a new tab) — Scouting America's rules for safe boating activities.
- USRowing (opens in a new tab) — The national rowing organization, with info on youth and learn-to-row programs.
- U.S. Coast Guard Boating Safety (opens in a new tab) — Life jacket rules, weather tips, and safe boating basics.
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Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.