Did you know it takes more people to officiate a swim meet than it does for hockey, football, baseball or most other sports? Yup, that's right. It takes over 38 people to run one of our meets!!How can that be? What are the jobs? What can I do to help? Well, I'm glad you asked.
15 Timers. We need 3 per lane. Probably the best job - you get a great seat at the end of the pool so you never miss a race and all you have to do is start and stop a watch.
2 Chief Timer + Assistant. Well, someone has to watch all those timers. You stand behind the timers and make sure they are all paying attention to the start of the race, and help them if they run into any problems
1 False Start Rope. A really easy job. If there is a false start, you pull the rope and it drops in the water to let the swimmers know they should stop. The hardest part of this job - most meets you rarely have to do anything, so your mind wanders. Then it happens, and you have to remember why you have such a great seat at the side of the pool!!
5 Stroke and Turn Judges. Your job is to make sure that the races are fair - no swimmer should gain an advantage from an illegal stroke. Yeah, that means you might have to be the bad guy and DQ a swimmer, but it is all for the best.
2 Clerk of Course + Assistant. You know those cards that are handed out to swimmers that tell them what lane to swim in (you'll usually see your swimmer eating it, bending it, folding it!) Well, this is the person who coordinates all those cards before handing them out. Probably the last person to see them in pristine condition.
2 Marshals. Your job is to control the flow of swimmers as they are waiting to swim. You need a good voice to call out the swimmers' names and give them their cards. Then send them on to the blocks for their race.
2 Safety Marshals. Your job is to control the warm-up - this is when almost every swimmer is in the pool and it can get quite chaotic. Note, there are lifeguards watching the pool activity - your job is to watch the deck activity, and make sure the lanes are being used correctly.
2 Chief Finish Judge + Assistant. After the race, the cards are brought to you to calculate the final time (which requires you read that water soaked time card..)
2 Recorder/Scorers. A fancy name for the computer operator. You put the data into the meet manager program, and print out the results + ribbons.
A bunch of runners. Usually we get brothers and sisters to help out. Someone has to bring those cards to the officials in the back room, or hand out the heat winner ribbons, etc.1 Starter. If you like people to listen to you, this is the job for you. When you say "go", people jump!! (Well, actually, you say 'Take your marks' and then fire the gun, and only the swimmers on the blocks should jump!)
1 Referee. Have you mastered all the above jobs and looking for more of a challenge? Then this is the job for you.
1 Meet Manager. This is the one in charge of it all. Really. Not only on the day of the meet, but you do all the planning and coordinating leading up to the meet. We all love the meet manager, cause they do a lot of the work so our kids can swim
Of course there are a lot of other jobs during the day of the meet - someone needs to help with set-up and clean-up. Plus there is the canteen and other helpers. The list goes on.
So next time you are at a meet, think of all those people that are helping those swimmers get their chance to improve their times!
Want more information? Contact the club officials chairperson.
Looking for a way to earn back your volunteer hours?
Looking for a great seat at a swim meet?
Here is your opportunity to do both - Why not try Officiating?Not convinced this is for you? How about we sweeten the pot!
In addition to a great seat - all officials get free refreshments and lunch!!
(plus we offer free training for all positions - and taking a course counts towards your volunteer hours as well)