New Officials Instructional Guide
This guide is a resource for volunteers interested in serving as a USA Swimming official. First and foremost, thank you for your willingness to volunteer and serve our athletes. Your support is critical to ensure we can continue to host and support swim meets. Serving as an official is a great way to support our athletes, learn more about the sport of swimming, complete your required volunteer hours, and meet new people.
The training requirements are extensive to ensure you’re knowledgeable, prepared and confident prior to officiating a USA Swimming meet.
Step 1 – Register as an Official
This is an important step in the process because all subsequent training, certifications and apprentice sessions need to be linked to your USA Swimming account. If you’ve never created a USA Swimming account, that is your first step. You can create a USA Swimming account by going to https://www.usaswimming.org/ and clicking on the “Login/Register” link in the top right and follow the instructions to create a USA Swimming account. The next step is to register as an official. The link to register as an official is https://omr.usaswimming.org/omr/welcome/4451E3D5114343. This link will allow you to add roles to your account and register as an official. There is a fee associated with this registration which may change. For HSA officials, this fee is reimbursable by submitting your receipt to Carol Shreve at [email protected].
Once you’ve completed this step, when you login to your USA Swimming account under your name you will see “Official” listed as well as your other roles, perhaps “Parent” if you are also a parent of a swimmer. If you’re unable to complete this step, please reach out for help before continuing with the rest of the training. You can seek help from Jason Lucas at [email protected]. If this step isn’t completed, subsequent training may need to be repeated, so please ensure this is complete before proceeding.
Step 2 – Complete Required Online Training
There are several online training requirements for new USA Swimming officials. All online training must be completed via the USA swimming website. To access the training materials, follow the steps below:
- Login to your USA Swimming account
- Click on the Education tab at the top of the page
- Select Course Catalog. This catalog includes all of the training courses required.
The following courses are required for all new Officials:
- Foundations of Officiating
- Athlete Protection Training
- Concussion Protocol Training. Provide your completion certificate to Jason Lucas at [email protected] to receive credit in the USA Swimming system.
- Background Check. There is a fee associated with this requirement which can be reimbursed for HSA officials by submitting to Carol Shreve at [email protected]. This step is required even if you’ve received other background checks or hold a security clearance.
The following courses are specific to each officiating role:
- Stroke and Turn Certification for those seeking to serve as a Stroke and Turn Official, Starter, Chief Judge or Referee.
- Administrative Official Certification for those seeking to serve as an Administrative Official.
Step 3 – Complete Apprentice Sessions
Completing Steps 1 and 2 are required for you to become an apprenticing official and serve on the pool deck at a swim meet. Once completed, please contact Jason Lucas at [email protected] (add Allison Proud at [email protected] if you want to apprentice as an Administrative Official) to be added to the officials e-mail distribution list to receive communications for upcoming swim meets. Prior to each swim meet the meet referee and/or Lead HSA Official will send an e-mail to the officials e-mail distribution list soliciting volunteers for the upcoming swim meet. When you receive this e-mail, respond to the noted contact with the days/sessions that you are available to apprentice and the meet referee and/or Lead HSA Official will schedule you to serve and you will receive subsequent e-mails regarding your instructions on when/where to arrive to serve.
During an apprentice session you will be paired with a certified USA Swimming official to shadow during your assigned sessions. This certified official will help train you on how to officiate a swim meet. Through your apprentice sessions you’ll be assigned to several different certified officials to get different perspectives to assist you in your development. Please use these apprentice sessions to ask questions and ensure you are prepared and confident before officiating on your own.
Stroke and Turn Official Requirements – 4 apprentice sessions at 2 different USA Swimming meets. If after 4 apprentice sessions you don’t feel confident to officiate on your own and would like additional training, simply continue additional apprentice sessions until you feel ready to officiate on your own.
Administrative Official Requirements – 4 apprentice sessions at 2 different USA Swimming meets.
Step 4 – Certified Official ready to Volunteer
After completing steps 1-3, you are ready to serve as an official. After completing these requirements, please e-mail Jason Lucas at [email protected] to ensure your USA Swimming account is upgraded from an apprenticing official to a certified official. Similar to step 3, you will receive an e-mail from the Meet Referee or Lead HSA Official ahead of upcoming swim meets soliciting volunteers. Simply respond to that e-mail with your willingness to serve and your availability per day and per session. You will receive subsequent e-mails with instructions on when/where to be to serve.
Step 5 – Seek Additional Certifications (if desired)
If you desire additional certifications to serve in other roles, you can seek additional certifications. The process is similar to seeking Stroke and Turn or Administrative Official certifications as detailed above. A summary for each role is below:
- Chief Judge – Certified Stroke and Turn Official, attend a Chief Judge clinic or briefing of duties and complete 4 apprentice sessions at 2 different meets.
- Starter – Certified Stroke and Turn Official, complete starter certification test, attend Starter clinic or briefing on duties and complete 4 apprentice sessions at 2 different meets.
- Referee – Certified Stroke and Turn Official, Certified Starter, Certified Administrative Official, complete referee certification test, attend referee clinic, and complete 4 apprentice sessions at 2 different meets.
Additional Resources
Certification Templates which include detailed information regarding certification requirements and expectations for the roles
Stroke and Turn Certification Template - https://websitedevsa.blob.core.windows.net/sitefinity/docs/default-source/officialsdocuments/national-certification-and-evaluation/certification-standards/st-certification-template-r8_2-6-24-(1).xlsx
Administrative Official Certification Template - https://websitedevsa.blob.core.windows.net/sitefinity/docs/default-source/officialsdocuments/national-certification-and-evaluation/certification-standards/ao-certification-template-r5_2-6-24-(1).xlsx
Chief Judge Certification Template - https://websitedevsa.blob.core.windows.net/sitefinity/docs/default-source/officialsdocuments/national-certification-and-evaluation/certification-standards/cj-certification-template-r4_2-6-24.xlsx
Starter Certification Template - https://websitedevsa.blob.core.windows.net/sitefinity/docs/default-source/officialsdocuments/national-certification-and-evaluation/certification-standards/sr-certification-template-r7_2-6-24-(1).xlsx
Referee Certification Template - https://websitedevsa.blob.core.windows.net/sitefinity/docs/default-source/officialsdocuments/national-certification-and-evaluation/certification-standards/ref-certification-template-r6_2-6-24.xlsx
Officials Documents - https://www.usaswimming.org/officials/popular-resources/officials-documents
This link includes many important resources, recommend you explore this section for any additional information you may need.
USA Swimming Rules
Help Resources
HSA Lead Official – Jason Lucas, [email protected]
USA Swimming North Alabama Regional Lead – David Hudson, [email protected]
