Scouting, Volume 40, Number 6, June-July 1952 Page: 23
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By DONALD M. HIGGINS
National Director of Health and Safety Service
8. Swim-rescue Race — approach and carry to pier or shore.
9. Dive for apples — coming up under water to apple.
10. Spoon and Egg Relay.
11. Underwater Tag.
12. Water Basketball.
13. Dog Paddle Relay.
14. Sweat Shirt Relay.
15. Candle Relay.
16. Balloon Volley Ball.
17. Speed Swimming — breast, back, crawl strokes.
18. Medley Relay.
Nation-wide Emphasis on Aquatic Training
Fun swimming with protection — done under
safe conditions — should include survival aquatic
instruction and practice to improve ability. When
that feature is added, we bring in the emphasis
needed in the national emergency of today.
The Need for Survival Aquatic Training
It is estimated that over 60 per cent of the peo-
ple in the United States do not know how to swim.
In World War II approximately 40 per cent of the
inductees could not swim. Except for the Navy,
few of these men ever had the opportunity to learn
to swim.
The basic training program for the Army and
Air Force is limited in the time devoted to swim-
ming instruction. Many of the military training
camps do not even have swimming facilities for
instruction.
It is quite possible that the military man will
have to face any water emergency with only the
ability he possessed at the time he entered the
service.
Scouting Can Help Meet This Need
Boys now in Scouting are very likely to face
emergency water situations in civilian life. When
they become members of the Armed Services,
aquatic skills are ever more certain to be needed.
The objective of this national emphasis in sur-
vival aquatics is to help persons of all ages over-
come fear of the water, develop confidence, and
achieve aquatic fundamentals.
Survival Tests for Average Swimmers
a. Relaxed Self-Support: Float or rest in a floating position two
minutes with minimum movement necessary for support.
b. Strokes: Swim the following three strokes in acceptable form,
for 40 yards each: (a) side stroke; (b) elementary back stroke; (c)
breast stroke.
c. Distance Swim: Swim 200 yards using one or more of the re-
quired three strokes.
d. Submerging and Underwater Swim: Submerge, feet first to a
depth of six or eight feet and swim twenty feet underwater.
e. Jumping and Self-Support: Step off platform {10 feet above
water level) wearing shirt and trousers, with head up, body straight
and vertical, feet and legs together and extended, arms crossed on
chest, elbows held close to body with hands grasping shirt at shoul-
ders. Stay afloat for five minutes.
A few youngsters can meet these standards eas-
ily. For the majority, though, it means practice.
In every Troop where leadership and facilities
can be arranged, let's make the theme "Swim for
Fun and Survival" an active part of the summer
program.
BOY SCOUT SECTION
JUNE-JULY, 1952
23
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 40, Number 6, June-July 1952, periodical, June 1952; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth329207/m1/25/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.