July 11, 2025, 2:16 am | Read time: 5 minutes
When looking for a new athletic challenge, you probably haven’t considered a lifeguard certification. Yet, it must be reassuring to know how to act in any water-related activity—and especially how to recognize dangers. FITBOOK editor Anna Echtermeyer spoke with one of the coordinators of lifeguard training content about the most underestimated exam components and explains what skills are required for each of the four German lifeguard certifications.
Have you ever met someone who has a gold badge in lifesaving swimming? I haven’t. But after researching this article, I know it requires extensive theoretical knowledge and demanding practical skills, including fin swimming, deep diving, rescue techniques, and first aid. It’s not just a real athletic challenge but also a visible sign of special competence and commitment in water rescue services. If you’re not aiming for the stars right away, how about the silver lifesaving swimming badge? Read here to find out what’s required–and learn from a professional why he became a lifeguard himself.
Overview
- There is a lack of rescue-capable people
- Which lifesaving swimming badge suits me?
- What do many consider the biggest challenge?
- What skills do you learn as a lifeguard–physically and mentally?
- Are there parts of the training that are particularly underestimated?
- General rules for the exam in the German Lifesaving Swimming Badges (DRSA)
- The exam requirements in detail
- How many hours of training are needed to become a lifeguard?
There is a lack of rescue-capable people
Drowning is one of the most common causes of accidental death worldwide and in Germany, especially among children and the elderly. From early May to early August 2024, at least 253 people drowned in Germany, according to the German Life Saving Association (DLRG)–many of them in unsupervised lakes or rivers.1 On one hand, more and more children are not learning to swim properly–at the same time, there is a shortage of lifeguards, trainers, and instructors who can safely introduce children to water. Amid all the complaints about too little swimming instruction, many overlook: “Every swimming lesson also requires at least one person who is rescue-capable,” says Matthias Stoll, head of training and prevention at the DLRG Federal Office in Bad Nenndorf. He earned his lifesaving swimming badges to work as a swimming trainer and instructor. Rescue-capable in the context of swimming courses in Germany means the silver lifesaving swimming badge.
Which Lifesaving Swimming Badge Suits Me?
In Germany, there are four official lifeguard exams: from Junior Rescuer to Bronze, Silver, and Gold, with increasing requirements. The exams cover individual elements of a rescue that can occur in various (real) situations.
According to Matthias Stoll, “Bronze is a good starting point.” You are truly ready for action as a lifeguard after completing the Silver lifesaving swimming badge (Bronze lacks the diving depth and proof of a first aid course).
With the Silver Lifesaving Swimming Badge, it is possible throughout Germany to provide proof of rescue capability–for example, for use in school swimming, club training, or supervising swimming groups. And Gold? According to the expert, this is a “greater athletic challenge.”
FITBOOK learned: The DLRG trains about 8,500 Junior Rescuers per year, awards 23,000 Bronze Lifesaving Badges, 40,000 Silver Badges, and 3,500 Gold.
Also interesting: Seahorse to Gold Performance Badge – what you need to know for swimming badges
What do many consider the biggest challenge?
“A large part of the participants find distance diving (about 25 meters for the Silver badge, ed.) or deep diving, at least three meters, to be the biggest challenge,” reports Stoll.
What skills do you learn as a lifeguard–physically and mentally?
In lifeguard training, in addition to improving swimming technique and bringing exhausted or unconscious people ashore, the focus is also on one’s own safety: How do I avoid being grabbed by people in panic, or how do I free myself from such situations? It is also important to note that swimming and jumping into the water should be the last step in a rescue.
At what age should children ideally learn to swim?
Children Often Drown Right in Front of Their Parents
Are there parts of the training that are particularly underestimated?
“Transport swimming in clothing becomes quite exhausting quickly, even experienced swimmers are surprised at how quickly their muscles stop working as usual,” Stoll tells FITBOOK.
The German lifesaving swimming badges may only be awarded by the DLRG, the Workers’ Samaritan Federation (ASB) and the Water Rescue Service of the German Red Cross (DRK). The Junior Rescuer is not part of the coordinated lifesaving swimming badges. Here, the DLRG and the Water Rescue Service each have their own concepts. Costs and registration modalities vary depending on the provider and region.
How many hours of training are needed to become a lifeguard?
A preparatory course for the lifesaving swimming exam consists of at least 16 learning units, with each unit lasting 45 minutes. Additional content such as a first aid course or further practical exercises may increase the total time required, depending on the provider and region.
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