WELCOME!

We’re excited to have you join the Illinois Swimming Officiating team!

Becoming an official consists of:

Becoming a USA Swimming Non-Athlete Official and completing required background, athlete protection and concussion training
Taking an online clinic
Completion of training requirements for your position
Submission of your documents for certification

INTRODUCING ONLINE TRAINING

USA Swimming is providing fully online, self-guided courses for Stroke & Turn, Jr Stroke & Turn, Administrative Official, Starter, and Deck Referee. Please follow these instructions to become an Official or to add a certification.

PLEASE READ THESE FAQ's FIRST!

How do I get started? – You found it! Please carefully read all information on this page. When you have completed that, please click the link on this page to position specific training (Stroke and Turn, Admin Official, Chief Judge, Open Water, Starter, Referee, or Junior Stroke and Turn).

I have read all this and still have questions. Who can help me? – Please contact [email protected], and we can answer further questions you may have. Please do NOT contact the office directly. They will simply pass this on to the people who get the emails from [email protected], so all that does is delay your reply from us.

I have no USA Swimming membership yet. How do I get one? – Contact whoever does registration for you club for a registration link. When you follow that link, click “Add a new member”. Make sure the role you choose is “Official”

What is my role when I register for USA Swimming? – Please register as an Official. Many of you are already registered as a Parent or a Member. If that is the case, please request the registration link from whoever does registration for your club. When you follow that link, click “Add a role to an existing member”. Add the role of Official.

What is “Foundations of Officiating” and do I have to take it? - Foundations of Officiating is an introduction to being a swim official. Any new official who wishes to become a stroke and turn official or administrative official must start by taking this course. Any official adding a certification who has not taken this, must take this before beginning on deck training. If you do not know if you have taken it, this course did not exist before 4/1/2024, so you probably didn’t. If you did, it will indicate that in USA Swimming University. You also must complete the survey to be done with the clinic.

I finished a clinic and have a score, but it does not show complete. What do I do? This is common. Many people see their score and understandably think they have finished the clinic. Unfortunately you haven't yet. You also must complete the survey to be done with the clinic. This typically fixes the issue.

It's Friday afternoon and I finished everything. Why can’t I train on deck tomorrow? – The clinic team is a volunteer who processes these weekly, typically on Wednesdays. Furthermore, we are officials who tend to be on deck a lot on the weekends. If the process has been started and we can see that, we will also contact you to let you know what is not complete. As this is a new process for everyone, there are often errors. We need to verify everything is done properly, then manually enter your new apprentice certifications into OTS, manually enter you into the meet referee contact form, and send you an email with next steps. Until you receive that email, you CANNOT train on deck.

USA SWIMMING RUN CLINICS FOR JUNIOR STROKE & TURN OFFICIALS (16 - 17 year olds only)

Please proceed to the Junior Stroke & Turn Officials page for information. The registration process is slightly different than for adult officials.

USA SWIMMING RUN CLINICS FOR NEW OFFICIALS - STROKE AND TURN OR ADMIN OFFICIAL

BECOME A NON-ATHLETE OFFICIAL MEMBER OF USA SWIMMING:

1. Please request the USA Swimming registration link directly from your club - ONLY use that link to create your non-athlete profile (if you do it directly from the USA Swimming site, you will have duplicate accounts that will require additional work for merging). Please be certain to register as an Official, NOT as a Member or Parent.

2. Complete your required additional certifications PRIOR to starting your on-deck training

Complete a Background Check
Complete Athlete Protection Training (APT) through the USAS Education tab
- Log into your USAS membership account and click on the Education tab.
- APT is mandatory for all Officials, Coaches, and athletes 18 and older
Obtain a concussion training certificate from either the National Federation of High Schools or the Center for Disease Control and email it to the Illinois Swimming Office for updating of your USAS Officials membership card.

**This process makes you eligible to be on deck with the athletes and is commonly just known as your non-athlete Officials registration.

3. The clinics are on the USA Swimming site at USA Swimming University. They are self-directed, so there is no need to register ahead of time. Set aside about 3 hours and take the clinics at your convenience. To get there log in to your USA Swimming account, click “Education”, then “Course Catalog”. Once you are in USA Swimming University click “Officials”.

ALL NEW OFFICIALS MUST TAKE "FOUNDATIONS OF OFFICIATING" BEFORE THEIR POSITION SPECIFIC COURSE. Foundations is a short course that will take about 30 minutes. Please be sure to complete the survey at the end of the clinic to get credit for it.

As a new official, if you would like to take the stroke and turn clinc, log in to USA Swimming, choose "Education", then "Course catalog" from the dropdown. Select the "Stroke and Turn Certification Course".

As a new official, if you would like to take the administrative official clinc, log in to USA Swimming, choose "Education", then "Course catalog" from the dropdown. Select the "Administrative Official Certification Course".

If you have further questions, please contact us at [email protected].

4. If you have registered properly, completed athlete protection, your background check, concussion protocol training, and both online clinics (Foundations of Officiating + position specific training), you will receive an email within about a week informing you about next steps. If you believe you have completed this properly and do not hear from us within a week, please email [email protected] for assistance. Please remember that we are all volunteers. Completing your online course and expecting immediate updating to be on deck that weekend, should not be expected (setting expectations).

5. Order a name tag from Hasty Awards. Here is the link: Name Tag Order

USA Swimming Runs clinics for current officials adding any certification through a USA Swimming run course

The clinic is on the USA Swimming site at USA Swimming University. It is self-directed, so there is no need to register ahead of time. Set aside about 2-3 hours and take it at your convenience. To get there log in to your USA Swimming account, click “Education”, then “Course Catalog”. Once you are in USA Swimming University click “Officials”. Choose the course you wish to take. Current Stroke and Turn officials may take Starter or Administrative Official. Current Administrative Official only officials may take Stroke and Turn. Current officials who are certified at Starter and Administrative Official, and who are comfortable in all of stroke and turn, admin, and starter, may take the Referee clinic. Please note that by becoming a referee, you will be expected to be able to mentor other officials at ALL positions, and as a meet referee you will be responsible for ALL officials and the validity of ALL times at that meet. If you are not comfortable with being able to lead others, please consider whether becoming a referee is the right move at this time.

Please ensure you are taking the Certification Course for whatever clinic you are taking. Current officials who have not yet taken "Foundations of Officiating" must take this course to add a new certification, no matter your experience level. If you have already taken Foundations of Officiating, you do not need to take it a second time (this is a one and done course/module). Please remember that we are all volunteers. Completing your online course and expecting immediate updating to be on deck that weekend, should not be expected (setting expectations).

CERTIFICATION

Once your training is complete, send your documents via email to the Illinois Swimming Officials Committee. All the documents you need are available on the Registration and Certification page.