Physical Fitness Requirements for the German Schwimmabzeichen

Sport Test German Swim Badge

Image by Alexander Baumann on Adobe Stock

The German Swim Badge is a very important test in Germany and is performed by young and old alike. Unfortunately, the world does not know about this test.

There are other German Badges for Sports, such as the Sportabzeichen. Furthermore, Germany offers other Swim Badges such as the German Rescue Swimming Badge.

Motto: "Richtig fit"
Translation (Very Fit)

Established in this new form in: "2006 and 2012"

The Swim badge consists of 3 levels; Bronze, Silver, and Gold. The bronze test consists of a dive into the water followed consequently by a 200-meter swim in 7 minutes. The silver test consists of a dive into the water followed consequently by a 400-meter swim in 12 minutes, 2 x 2 meter deep dive to pick up an object from the ground, 10-meter distance diving. The below-listed test is the Gold test.

Chart Standards Schwimmabzeichen

#	Exercises	Pass	Good	Great	Gold
1	1000 Meter Swim	-24:00 min	-22:00 min	-21:30 min	-20:00 min
2	100 Meter Swim	-1:50 min	-1:40 min	-1:35 min	-1:30 min
3	100 Meter Backswim	Pass/ Fail Event (Untimed)
4	15 Meter Dive Swim	Pass/ Fail Event (Untimed)
5	Deep Dive Test	Pass/ Fail Event (Untimed)
6	3 Meter Platform Jump	Pass/ Fail Event (Untimed)
7	50 Meter Transport Swim	Pass/ Fail Event (Untimed)

Since January of 2020, The requirements drastically changed for the various Schwimmabzeichen. From now on, the candidates need only to be able to ...

- Swim 800 meters within 30 minutes. 650 out of those 800 need to be accomplished in one specific swimming style of choice, and the other 150 meters in another swimming style. One is not allowed to hold on to the rails at any time. Show the ability to dive and perform a 25-meter front crawl swim. Dive and perform a 50-meter breaststroke in 1:15 minutes. 50-meter backstroke without arm usage. 10-meter distance diving. Deep dive and pick up 3 objects in 3 minutes and only coming up 3 times to catch a breath. 3 Meter Towerjump and 50-meter transport swim, pushing or pulling.

Physical Requirements and Information from other units

For Other German Tests, click below
Polizei	Feuerwehr	Sportabzeichen
SEK	ZUZ	GSG 9
Bundeswehr	KSK	Kampfschwimmer
For Other International Units, click below
NFL Combine	NBA Combine	Police Spain
DG Challenge	Murphy Challenge	Weightlifting
For General Fitness information and MsigWarrior Blog, click here

DDR Schwimmabzeichen

The East German Schwimmabzeichen from back in the days was a simple yet effective test of swimming of an individual. To receive the highest level, called Stufe III, one needed to show abilities to be able to jump dive into the water and swim 2x 100 meters with different swimming strokes or 1x 400 meters in one particular swimming style. Everything was timed.

Schwimmabzeichen for Kids

To motivate kids to participate and excel in swimming, Germany created also various Swimmingbadges for kids, such as the Schwimmabzeichen Dolphin and Seahorse, etc...

Schwimmabzeichen Fitness Test Video

Totenkopf - Schwimmabzeichen

Further testing exists such as the Totenkopfschwimmabzeichen (Skull-Swimmingbadge). This badge is given to Swimmers, who have a lot of endurance and can swim without taking a break. To receive bronze, the candidate needs to be able to swim for an hour, silver equals 1h 30 minutes, and Gold is given to those who can swim for 2 hours.

Leistungschwimmabzeichen - Gold

Another German Swimming Badge is the Leistungschwimmabzeichen (Performanceswimbadge). The candidate needs to 1. swim 100-meter breaststroke in 1:35 min, 2. 100-meter free-crawl in 1:20 min, 3. 100-meter backstroke in 1:35 min, and 4. 50-meter butterfly stroke in 40 sec. Furthermore, the candidate needs to 5. freestyle swim 400 meters within 7 minutes, 6. perform a head dive from 3 meters, perform 7. a Flip jump from 1 meter and 8. perform a 50-meter waterball dribble within a 1 minute.

Chart Standards RettungsSchwimmabzeichen

#	Exercises	Pass
1	Swim	250 meters and perform a transport swim in 6 minutes
2	Clothed Swim	300 meters in 9 minutes. Undress in the pool after
3	Speed Swim	100 meters in less than 1:40 minutes
4	Distance Dive	30 meters, while picking up at least 8 objects placed in 2 meters distance from each other.
5	Deep Diving	3x Deep diving within 3 minutes with various jumps to pick up objects from 5 meters.
6	Transport swim	50 Meter transport swim. Candidate and helper wear clothes. Time limit: 1:30 min
7	Combination	Back to back exercises *

The candidate will also be tested in a 3-minute Resuscitation exercise, needs to prove abilities on how to successfully use ball-floats and rescue lines, by throwing those in 12-meter distances in various Goals in 5 minutes. It will be considered a failure if they do not hit the target at least 4x.

*The Combination Exercise: The candidate needs to swim to the person in need within 30 seconds, dive 3 - 5 meters deep, pick up an object and then drop it. Show proof of being able to escape a hold or choke, transport the person within 60 seconds by rescue pulling stroke and then lift the person out of water.

My Personal Experience with the Schwimmabzeichen

Schwimmabzeichen Facts

For some military, and for some police units, one Individual needs to acquire "das Schwimmabzeichen" before joining the pre-selection phase of the unit. Usually, only Bronze is required. However, for some special forces, Silver or Gold is needed.

To accomplish those, the Individual will have to test at one of the local Swimming clubs or organizations. They furthermore will hand out the certificate after the test has been successfully mastered.