All swimming meets rely on the help of volunteers to run, this includes at least 20 officials across the different levels of qualifications to run a meet
we need your help!
SWIMMING MEETS: ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES OF OFFICIALS
Technical officials (the people in white) are responsible for ensuring that the rules of swimming are upheld and that all swimmers have the opportunity to compete fairly in whatever events they swim
WHY SHOULD I BECOME AN OFFICIAL?
As a ‘swimming parent’ you spend a lot of time attending swimming meets. Becoming an official gives you an insight into how swimming meets work, provides you with something to do when son/daughter isn’t swimming and is a great source of free sweeties. From the Club’s perspective we need a pool of officials inside the club so that we can run our own meets. You do not have to officiate at other club’s meets if you don’t want to. However some away meets are now requesting officials in order for our swimmers to be able to swim.
HOW DO I BECOME AN OFFICIAL?
No prior knowledge of swimming rules is necessary at the start of training to become an official. All you need is a clipboard, a stopwatch, a pen and an enthusiasm for swimming. In order to become an official you need to attend an induction session and then complete a series of practical sessions, recorded in a workbook, focusing upon the duties associated with the qualification being worked towards. Apart from the Referee course there are no written exams. There are 4 grades of officials as follows:- Judge level 1; Judge level 2; Judge level 2 & Starter and Referee.
The club is only able to function and succeed as a result of people kindly volunteering and giving up their time freely so that swimmers can enjoy their competition. If you are interested and want to find out more then please contact the officials coordinator on atlantis.officials@gmail.com .
JUDGE LEVEL 1
This is the first level of British qualification for which the minimum age is 15. It encompasses the role and duties of a Timekeeper, Chief Timekeeper and Inspector of Turns.
Timekeeper - You record the time the swimmer takes to complete the race using a stopwatch and record it on the heat sheets. If the meet is working with Automatic Officiating Equipment (AOE) ie electronics then there will also be a secondary ‘back-up’ button that you need to push when the swimmer completes the race. If the meet is using manual times the Chief Timekeeper will collect the time sheets for each event.
Chief Timekeeper – to ensure the timekeepers perform their role. If the meet is manual (ie not electronic - AOE) they collect the time sheets from the timekeeper after each event and work out the finishing times for the swimmers based on the order of the finish in agreement with the referee.
Inspector of Turns – as a J1 you are also expected to be responsible for looking at the swimmers turns and finishes. Do not worry - you cannot disqualify a swimmer, all you do is report an infringement if you see it to the Referee or Chief Inspector of Turns. The only person who can disqualify a swimmer is the Referee. If you “think” you saw an infringement then you must give the swimmer the benefit of doubt. This part of J1 requires knowledge of the rules relating to the turn and finish for each stroke but this is where the mentoring will help since you will be attending meets and placed with more experienced officials who will ask questions and explain what you should be looking for.
Chief Inspector of Turns – is the link between the Inspector of Turns (J1) and the Referee. Takes the report from the time keeper to the referee.
What next? You can progress to become a judge level 2, starter or referee!
Please contact the officials coordinator, atlantis.officials@gmail.com for details of the next training course.
Galas can only take place with the help of parents and volunteers
If you hold an Official qualification J1, J2 or are a TK, and are happy to help at one of our events please advise the gala team at the time of making a Gala entry or contact our
If you would like to be involved in other activities, such as working with the GALA IT team, or providing refreshments, running results or giving out medals please contact our
We thank all our volunteers and officials for their continued help and support, we could not run events or attend as many without you.