USA Swimming University

RPS club members interested in becoming certified swim meet Officials, Administrators, Startes, Timers, Clerk of Course, etc..,

USA Swimming has put all the training in one place online through the USA Swimming University. Becoming a meet official should be a much easier process with these new changes. We no longer have to wait for in-person clinics and to have the chance to officiate at away meets to become certified. Once the online training has been completed and verified, members can begin their training on deck at the swim meets. Our regional representative can verify and record the training sessions. I believe about three training sessions are required to complete the in-person training. This is extremely helpful for our swim club because we are currently in need of new certified officials. Many of our officials are no longer going to be with RPS since their children have graduated and moved on the college. They have eagerly volunteered throughout their swimmer’s time with our club and now it is time for new members to step up and volunteer. Fortunately, it has become easier to do so. And as a bonus, our club currently credits meet volunteers for their service at RPS hosted USA Swimming club meets. These credits are applied to the member accounts to help with the cost of our membership. Officials and Meet Administrators are currently credited 20 points per session and all other meet volunteers are credited 10 points per session. Points are typically matched $1 per point. These credits can add up fast when we are able to host meets. This is a great club membership discount opportunity but we cannot host meets without staff members willing to work the meets with us. All RPS club members should get on USA Swimming and start taking some of the classes. They are informative and actually help explain a lot about swimming which will give many a better understanding of the sport. The motivation to become an official is primarily an intrinsic value for the sport of swimming by ensuring meets are ran by the rules to provide fair competition for everyone. It is up to our RPS club members to step up and fill that role for our swimmers in our region.

USA Swimming University link

Thanks for your time,

Coach Marcel J. Blasini

Red Piranha Swimming