Badges!
Do you like badges? 
You certainly know that I do, at least I like going for them, especially the swimming ones. Maybe I watched too much Pokémon around the turn of the millennium, or maybe I just like to prove myself. Whatever it is, Primrose and I are always up for a challenge, and those badges are a good one.
If you have been following our previous blog, you surely remember how I went for the DLRG Bronze, Silver and Gold swimming badges, even together with Prim in the case of the final one. Recently, I got the Bronze Lifeguard badge and I have set my sights on Silver - except I'm still missing the actual badge, I only got a certificate for my troubles.
Our instructor said that the badge can be ordered somewhere. So far, I have had no luck with it, and a local pool lifeguard pointed me to an online store with a wide selection, which, however, also doesn't seem to have the badge that I am looking for. I am currently in contact with them about it.
Now that I have had a look, though, let's take a moment to check out some of the other badges that are out there, for other people who like to take on some challenges. Most of them are not available to me for various obvious reasons, but let's have a look anyway.
The Basics
Ah, yes, the Seahorse. This is certainly the most common one of the swimming badges, every German child is expected to take it at one point, usually shortly before starting school. Maybe you even remember one of last year's Troll Trivia questions, where it was revealed that I did this badge not just once, but twice as a kid, thanks to an awkward misunderstanding.
The Seahorse certifies that the child (I think there is also some adult equivalent for people who never learned how to swim in their youth) is capable of swimming under supervision, by demonstrating that it can swim a 25 meter lane, retrieve an object from the bottom of a shallow part of the pool, and showing a basic knowledge of safety rules.
In order to be considered capable of swimming unsupervised, one would have to take the standard Bronze swimming badge as I did last year (I had done it before too, but I wanted to start over from scratch and re-took it). It is not a strict requirement, however, and many people are safely swimming without it - though there are certain fields of work that may require you to have the Bronze.
The Early Ones
Intended as a step before the Seahorse, these badges for the youngest among the early swimmers are supposed to give a fun little challenge for children to get used to the water. "Starfish Stella" does not require any actually actual swimming skills yet, but has the little adventurers demonstrate that they can breathe out under water without swallowing anything, float for a bit in shallow water, and dare to briefly dive down or jump from the edge of the pool. All under strict supervision, of course.
Not sure what the "Frog badge" requires, but I think it is similar. A little floating, breathing out, and maybe doing your first few swimming strokes without going for a certain time or distance.
The Intermediate Badges
These badges are for young swimmers who already passed the Seahorse, but may want to have something in-between before tackling the real Bronze swimming badge and possibly beyond. "Pirate Pimpi" has the young sea dogs swimming freestyle for 100 meters, diving for a distance of 5 meters, and diving down to recover a "pirate booty" (that's what the certificate calls it) from a depth of one meter. Yarrrrrrrr! ♠_grin:
"Trixi the Seal" is also known as the "versatility badge". In order to earn this seal of approval, one would have to do 25 meters of breaststroke swimming, 25 meters of either front or back crawling, dribble a water polo ball for 15 meters, do a head first dive from the edge, dive for a distance of 7 meters, and show some confidence by performing a little spin in the water. A nice preparation for some of the "proper" badges, maybe, with its wide range of required skills.
Obviously, I am a little too old for those badges, and the challenge wouldn't really be there. But it is still interesting to see what is out there for the little ones to provide some motivation during their early swimming career. I hadn't even heard of many of those badges before.
There are a few more age-appropriate badges out there, however, and we will be taking a look at them next...
Well, it could have been vegan... 
Hurl
Disgorge
Honestly, I can't even remember the last time I had regular brown bread from the baker, I typically just have toast when I want to go for a quick sandwich. Freshly baked home-made bread must be miles ahead of anything from the store, though.