OFFICIALS

How do I become an Official?

If you would like to become involved and train as a Technical Official, please contact admin@swimsouthland.org.nz.

Becoming a Technical Official does not mean you will be required to officiate at each and every meet - just when you are able too. The more officials we have trained up, the less stress there is on our regular officials to be there all the time.

Timekeeper

To run any meet, we need at least 2 timekeepers per lane - in our 8 lane pool, that adds up to a lot of timekeepers!This is an easy job, anyone with spare thumbs can grab a watch from the control room and take one of the best seats in the house for watching the action!We require the correct amount of timekeepers in order to be able to start the meet - without this, the meet would not be 'an official meet' in the eyes of Swimming New Zealand (meaning your swimmers could miss out on gaining those qualifying times for South Island and National Meets.

Marshall

Calling all people with a great 'school teacher voice'! Such an important job, to organize the swimmers into the race, heat and lane.We fully encourage/expect our swimmers to know their race number, heat number and lane number before they come down to marshaling, so if you are a keen organizer ready for the challenge, our swimmers will thrive with you at the helm!

Control Room Staff

2 - 3 people of are required to man the Control Room during a meet. The control room is in charge of making sure the timing equipment is running effectively and correctly before and during the meet - all swimmers times are inputted automatically through the system and posted on Meet Mobile for all to see. We're also in charge of any medal/ribbon presentations, so it gets pretty busy... any spare hands on deck please!This is a busy and sometimes stressful area during the meets, so if you pick things up nice and quick, and have a cool head, come and see us to check out more of what we do.

Inspector Of Turns (IOT)

These are the guys that stand at each end of the pool during a meet - you will ensure all swimmers comply with the rules of the starts, turns and finishes.Such an important role at our meets - no one likes the thought of disqualifying a swimmer.... but, if they don't get picked up on something they may be doing incorrectly at our local meets - they may qualify for South Island and National meets only to get disqualified at their pinnacle meet. 

Judge Of Stroke (JOS)

These guys walk up and down the sides of the pool during the meet - they are ensuring the rules related to the style of swimming designated for the race of being followed.

Starter

'Take Your Mark'......Beep! Making sure all swimmers are given an equal start to their race

Referee

Chief of the Pool.... The Referee has control of all officials and swimmers.​​​​​​​