Swim Officiating

Swim meets are an essential part of the sport of swimming, allowing athletes to test their skills and reach their swimming goals. Swimming officials implement the technical and administrative rules of swimming and ensure the competition is fair for all athletes. 

In Ontario, swim officials are volunteers, including parents, family members, and individuals dedicated to the sport of swimming. To qualify as a swim official, individuals are certified by Swimming Canada, attend clinics, and receive on-deck training. 

The Toronto Swim Club, like most swim clubs in Canada, relies heavily on parents participating as officials in order to host consistent and fair racing opportunities. Typically, TSC needs 40 officials to run 1 swim meet session!

How to Become a Swim Official

To volunteer on deck as an official at a sanctioned swim meet, you must be 14 years of age or older and Swimming Canada requires that individuals are registered as officials.

HOW TO REGISTER AS A RETURNING TSC OFFICIAL

If you've worked on-deck as a TSC official OR you registered with Swimming Canada prior to September 2025 with the intention to get certified/volunteer as a TSC official please follow these instructions to get your account updated for this swim season.

You will receive an email to complete a google form at the start of the season where you can express your interest in being registered as an official for TSC. Alternatively, email Olga Macel, TSC’s Club Official’s Coordinator at [email protected] to let her know you would like to register as an official.

After the club registers you as an official with Swimming Canada you will then receive an email from SportLomo asking you to update your information. To complete your registration please click the “Update Information” button on your member card. Do not click Register/Renew as this will begin a new registration.

If you have NOT received an email asking you to update your information for the 2025-26 Swim season or if you need help, please email our Club Officials Administrator (Olga Macel) at [email protected]

 HOW TO TRANSFER AS AN OFFICIAL FROM ANOTHER CLUB

Please email our Club Officials Administrator (Olga Macel) at [email protected] asking to help you transfer your official affiliation to TSC. You will then need to update your information for the 2025-26 Swim Season as above.

 HOW TO REGISTER AS A NEW SWIM OFFICIAL

You will receive an email to complete a google form at the start of the season where you can express your interest in being registered as an official for TSC. Alternatively, email Olga Macel, TSC’s Club Official’s Coordinator at [email protected] to let her know you would like to register as an official.

 As a NEW official the two clinics you need to take in order to volunteer to be on deck are: Introduction to Officiating (Timekeeper) clinic and the Safety Marshall clinic. You must complete both of these clinics in order to sign up for either the Timer/Timekeeper role or the Safety Marshall role.

FOR RETURNING AND NEW OFFICIALS - STEPS TO SIGN UP FOR CLINICS

Once you are registered, here are instructions on how to sign up for clinics:

1. Log in to your REMS account at: https://swimming.canada.sportsmanager.ie/sportlomo/users/login

2. Click on the grey "LMS" button.

3. On the drop-down menu select "official" 

4. It will bring you to the "Welcome" of the LMS.  There's a row of buttons on the top.  Click on the STATUS button.

5. The STATUS tab lists your "status" of the clinics you have taken (or not). This tab is where you can do the eModules. Press on the eModule button to do the Introduction to Officiating clinic. The other clinic you need to complete is the eModule for the Safety Marshall clinic.

6. The CLINIC tab is where you cen register for a clinics run by TSC and other Swim Clubs These clinics occur both virtually and in-person. If you don’t see the clinic you want to take, please keep checking as new listings get added.

You earn 1 family participation point for completing a clinic you’ve never taken before.  

NEXT STEPS AS A NEW OFFICIAL

Once you have gained on-deck experience and feel comfortable in the Timekeeper position, you should sign up for a deck evaluation. Before the start of a sanctioned swim meet session (with a minimum duration of 2 hours), ask the Session Referee for a deck evaluation. Typically, there’s a sign-up form for deck evaluations at the desk where you check-in as an official before the meet starts. Successful deck evaluations will be recorded by the COA in your REMS Officials profile.

Important note: if you officiate at non-TSC hosted meets please let our COA, Olga Macel, know about your successful deck evaluations (email a photo or PDF record to [email protected]) so these can be recorded in your REMS officiating account.

 Once you have two successful deck evaluations (or at least a couple officiating experiences as a Timekeeper), the next clinics to take are the Inspector of Turns clinic (it is recommended to take this one first) and Judge of Stroke clinic. This allows you to begin to volunteer as an Inspector of Turns or a Stroke Judge. 

TRACKING YOUR COMPLETED CLINICS AND EVALUATIONS

In the past after completing your first clinics you were given a white Officials Certification Card as a record of your completed officiating clinics and evaluations. These cards are no longer printed and distributed. If you still have a white Certification Card you can still bring it to meets or in-person clinics to get it signed for your evaluations or clinic completions. This is not required, but it is still possible.

Your completed clinics and successful deck evaluations are recorded in your REMS profile under the Credentials tab. You should also be able to see your completed clinics in the Learning Management System (LMS) under the “Status” tab. If you notice a discrepancy between what’s been recorded and what you know you’ve completed, please email Olga Macel ([email protected]) with this issue to get it fixed. 

It is STRONGLY recommended to:

· keep the email receipt sent to you from Swimming Canada after you complete a clinic

· to take a photo of your name on the sign-in sheet if you are officiating at a swim meet

· to take a photo of the completed (signed) evaluation sheet if you get a successful evaluation so you have a personal record. 

OFFICIALS' DRESS CODE 

The dress code for Swim Ontario-sanctioned competitions consists of:

· Black Pants, Shorts, or Skirt

· Black Shoes

· White T-shirt or Polo shirt (Timekeeper and Chief Timer) 

· Red Polo shirt (all other officials)

LINK TO PURCHASE  - White or Red Polo from Ly Sports

HIGHER LEVEL POSITIONS AND MOVING UP THE LADDER

The most numerous positions at meets are Timers and Inspector of Turns (ITs). All volunteers are encouraged to move beyond these positions. The club’s ability to host and/or assist at other club’s meets relies on officials progressing through the levels of certification. TSC offers an incentive in the form of a fee discount to members who are certified and active as a Level III Official and higher. The Officials Discount is outlined in the Participation Policy, which is listed under the Parents tab on the TSC website.

TSC has four Club Officials Coordinators (COCs), Victoria Ashat , Christina Kalcevich and Audra Stitt. They are responsible for developing TSC’s base of officials and to fill all officiating roles with qualified volunteers at each TSC-hosted meet.

If you are interested in moving up the ladder (officiating roles beyond Timekeeper, IT and JS) please reach out to the Officials Team ([email protected]).They can help you in setting up opportunities to shadow specific officiating roles, make a note of officiating roles you are pursuing, and assist in scheduling on-deck opportunities to help you work toward completing the next level.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

If you plan to move beyond a Level I official it’s important that you track all your on-deck experiences in a personal log. (This log will need to be submitted when you are completing Level III.) Swim Ontario provides a template of a personal log you can use here.

While any time you are evaluated and signed off in an officiating role it will be recorded your REMS profile, the rest of your on-deck experiences are not recorded.  Remember, another helpful practice would be for you to take a photo of the sign-in sheet and/or the evaluation sheet at all meets you participate as an official.

Click here to learn more about the Officials Certification Pathway from Swimming Canada

Click here to learn more about the Education and Development Pathway from Swim Ontario

Click here to find the Swim Ontario Resources page

Click here for Officiating videos on each stroke

 

DESCRIPTION OF OFFICIALS' POSITIONS

Safety Marshal

A Safety Marshal is assigned the important responsibility of maintaining a safe swim environment during warm-up by monitoring the behaviour of swimmers in and out of the pool.

Timekeeper

As a Timekeeper, you operate various timing devices, such as stopwatches or plungers (electronic buttons) attached to the automatic timing equipment. Timekeepers are responsible for starting their watches at the starter's signal, and stopping their watches or activating their buttons when any part of the swimmer's body touches the wall at the finish. The watch time is then recorded and used to determine the race results.

Inspector of Turns (IT) 

An Inspector of Turns or IT observes the swimmers from either the start/finish end or the turn end of the pool. The inspector of turns is responsible for judging the starts, finishes, and turns during each race. At the start end this position was formerly referred to as Head Lane Timer or HLT.

Judge of Stroke (JS)

A Judge of Stroke or JS walks the distance alongside the side pool and observes the swimmers on their half of the pool. The JS ensures compliance with the rules pertaining to the mechanics of the swim such as the arm stroke and kick.

Chief Timer

The Chief Timer assures that all lanes have timekeepers, working stopwatches and/or electronic timing buttons, clipboards, pencils, and timing cards or sheets.  If a Timekeeper didn’t start their stopwatch or needs to step away from their lane during a race the Chief Timer will step in to temporarily backfill.

Administration Desk (formerly called Clerk of Course)

The Administration Desk checks swimmers into the meet, "scratches" swimmers that are absent or do not intend to swim an event, and seeds swimmers according to their entry times. The Admin Desk may also shepherd swimmers from a staging area to the starting blocks or other necessary tasks during a meet session.

Chief Judge Electronics (CJE)

The Chief Judge Electronics determines official times when electronic timing equipment is in use.  

Chief Recorder (formerly called Recorder-Scorer)

Swimmers' times are received electronically through an ARES timing system or manually by stopwatch. These  times are received or entered using Hy-tek software, and are matched to the individual swimmer's name. The Recorder is responsible for bringing all this information together for posting the results of races. 

Starter

The Starter ensures that all swimmers receive a fair and equitable start. The Starter works closely with the Referee, and assumes responsibility for the start at the Referee's signal. The Starter steps the swimmers onto the starting blocks or into the water, directs the swimmers to "take their marks", and in conjunction with the referee, determines when a false start has occurred. The Starter is also responsible for making sure that the starting equipment is in working order prior to the start of a session.

Referee

The Referee has the overall authority and responsibility for seeing that the competition complies with all of the appropriate rules and regulations. The Referee resolves all questions related to the conduct of the swim meet and reviews any disqualifications.

Meet Manager

The Meet Manager is responsible for planning, organizing and executing every aspect of the meet. This individual makes sure the meet runs without a hitch. They prepare the swim meet package, complete the sanction application with Swim Ontario, arrange for equipment and items needed for the meet right to the  awards presentation. This job requires someone with patience, perseverance and attention to detail to ensure the swim meet is a success.