Last updated on June 20th, 2023 at 09:50 am
Swim meet officials have an important job to do. At some big meets, many people fill the same role. For example, there may be multiple deck referees, starters, chief judges, and administrative officials. Often, these roles are assigned in advance. All must come together in a unified way to best serve the athletes and perform well as officials. Just as a harness guides and supports animals working together, like sled dogs. Clear and uniformly shared information can help to “harness,” guide, and support people who work together.
While it’s true, that there are many “right” ways to run a swim meet. It is also true that some meets have specific protocols swim officials must follow. Because many people are involved, it’s important to uniformly share meet-specific information. Be sure to share it early and with all those who need it. I like giving the information in print so they can both read it upon receipt and reference it later. Doing so helps get all on the same page. Then, they are in a better position to produce not only accurate, timely results but also a better swim meet experience for all.
Contents for Get Assigned Officials On The Same Page
What Are Assigned Swim Officials?
Assigned officials may be asked to fill a specific role before the swim meet. Even small meets get or assign the meet referee and starter in advance. Large or championship meets will often assign people to the roles of deck referee, chief judge, and administrative roles too. Not all swim meets use what I call, “middle-manager” officials. These include deck referees, chief judges, and multiple people in admin roles. (For more about each role see: Who does what to run great swim meets?) Though these roles are assigned in advance at large meets, they could also be filled or “assigned” during warm-ups at small meets with enough qualified officials.
Why Use Assigned Officials?
Using assigned officials helps to decrease the overload and burn-out of key people, like the meet referee. Some meets barely get enough swim officials to run legally. However, many meets have more than the legal requirement. Some referees or swim teams even recruit officials to work meets to ensure they can have a chief judge and deck referee. Doing so not only spreads out the workload it also provides training opportunities. Additionally, using a deck referee and at least one chief judge can help to produce more timely, accurate, results even at smaller swim meets.
Even if not typically used at meets in your area, assigned officials like deck referees and chief judges can help create a better meet experience for all. My mom used to say, “Many hands make light work.” Although the load swim meet officials carry may not become “light.” More help — properly harnessed — can lighten it. As a result, volunteer officials may stick around longer in the sport.
What Helps Ensure the Success of Assigned Officials?
Dividing the workload among assigned officials helps break it into manageable pieces. However, since the process involves more people, it’s important to clearly and uniformly communicate key information to all involved. For the system to run well, getting everyone onto the same page is vital.
Information Assigned Officials Need
Personnel
What is the setup of the pool deck as far as officials? How many people will serve in each role? Will they rotate? If so, how and when? What about breaks and a place to put belongings while working?
Supplies and Uniform
Do they need to bring, or wear, anything specific to do their job?
Meetings
- Should they expect to attend any meetings? If so, when and where?
- Do they need to run any meetings? If so, when and where? What do they need to cover? Who else will, or should, be there? (For example, sometimes the Starter runs the timer training meeting.)
- Do they need to coordinate with anyone else about anything else?
Responsibilities
What are they expected to do? Are there any deadlines?
Swim Meet Specific Protocols and Procedures
Many referees use meet-specific protocols and procedures to help organize themselves and others. Meet specific protocols and procedures differ from the rules. All must follow the governing body’s rules. However, the meet referee can adjust meet-specific protocols and procedures based on available people, physical setup, and other factors. Unlike the rules, these protocols and procedures do not apply at all swim meets.
Deck Operating Procedures
When using multiple deck referees and/or chief judges, it’s important for all to know and uniformly follow any meet-specific protocols and procedures. This helps provide a fair experience for swimmers, coaches, and anyone else who interacts with officials. Much of the paperwork that influences results begins with deck officials but ends up with administrative officials. As a result, it is important for the meet and administrative referees to coordinate these processes before giving this information to their counterparts. Deck operating procedures might include, but are not limited to:
Disqualifications
- Vetting the call
- DQ slip processing
- No Shows
- Declared False Starts
- Delay of Meet
- Early Relay Take-off
Managing Heats
- Should the starter call the name or lane if a swimmer is missing? If yes, when? How many times?
- Should the referee do flyover starts?
- Whistle commands? If yes, when? Does the referee need to coordinate these with the announcer? If so, how?
- False Starts: How called? How reported?
- Order of Finish: Who takes it?
- Finalizing Events
- Alternates (if used in Finals)
- Swim-offs
- Re-swims
Radios
- Who distributes? By when? How collected after each session?
- Who charges?
- Will there be a radio check? If so, how and when?
- Is there preferred verbiage or other protocols? (For an example, see Radio Protocol Outline for Swim Meet Officials.) If so, how will the affected officials find out about it?
Administrative Procedures
Just as it’s important to share deck operating procedures, it’s also important to share meet specific administrative procedures too. Many of the deck items listed above end up in admin. Therefore, it’s important those in this area know how to uniformly process that paperwork. The responsibilities of administrative officials include, but are not limited to:
- Reports and Other Paperwork: Generating, reviewing, printing, and sharing a variety of reports and other swim meet paperwork
- Entries and Seeding: Processing entries, entry changes (including scratches and check-ins), and seeding
- Deck Paperwork: Processing and storing deck paperwork
- Times and Results: Processing times, verifying, and publishing results
Make It Easier on Yourself
It’s often easier to tweak someone else’s work than to create something new from scratch. So, check out these other posts designed to share the above information with people in various roles. The posts include links to downloadable pdf and word files.
- Swim Meet Deck Referee and Starter Information
- Swim Meet Admin Area Information
- Chief Judge Swim Meet Information
Assigned Officials Benefit Swim Meets When on the Same Page
It’s helpful to choose and notify assigned officials well before a swim meet. However, at small meets with enough qualified officials, the assignment of a deck referee or chief judge could come during warm-ups. Using assigned officials helps to produce timely, accurate results and make the workload of key people more manageable. Not only does this relieve pressure on them, but it also helps train others to assume more responsibility later.
One challenge of using more people is the increased chance of misunderstanding. It also raises the odds of different people doing things in different ways. However, uniforming sharing clear and relevant information early on helps prevent these and other problems. If so, give your people the information they need to do a good job well before the swim meet. Doing so creates a better experience for them. Using informed assigned officials improves the swim meet experience for those who interact with them. Additionally, and very importantly it also increases the likelihood of accurate, timely results. These and other positive outcomes are worth the extra time and effort it takes upfront to get everyone on the same page.