USA Swimming Officials
One of the most exciting and fun volunteer roles at a meet is that of an official. As an official you serve an integral role in making meets run smoothly, in accordance to USA Swimming rules. More importantly, volunteering as an official is one of the best ways to support every swimmer in the water. Having access to the delicious food in hospitality is just a perk!
The community of officials within Pacific Northwest Swimming and beyond is just fantastic. PNS has a tradition of officials serving at the highest athletes at the high levels of competition up to Olympic Trials. The USA Swimming Officials page can be found HERE.
Once certified, all officials will receive a SMAC Officials Polo. Upon completion of your certification please send an email to officials@smac.email to let us know and we can arrange for you to get a shirt.
At each meet official’s should sign-up for work with the Meet Referee, as well sign-up in the Job Sign-up in the Web site. Officials are welcome to volunteer in other roles if necessary. But as officials are in high demand, please prioritize officiating before taking on other roles.
If you are interested in becoming an official or have any questions regarding officiating please do not hesitate to contact Shawn Moon via email .
How to Become an Official
Officials are USA Swimming members and certified by the Pacific Northwest Swimming.
Each LSC sets their own requirements for officiating, but there are basic steps required for all officials:
- Register as an apprentice official (some LSCs do not offer this option and you must register as a full official to start). Once your training is completed, you will register and pay membership dues as a full official.
- Attend an official’s clinic (stroke and turn training)
- Complete Level 2 Background Check
- Complete Athlete Protection Training
- Complete on-deck sessions shadowing a certified official
Pacific Northwest Swimming Officials Roster - CLICK HERE
Volunteer Hours
All hours that you dedicate to offiiciating activities will be counted toward your volunteer hour commitment. This includes initial training, recurrent training, APT, PNS officials meetings and all meets.
All hours for sessions worked at a SMAC hosted event will be collected and entered in for you. However, for any hours spent on training or non-hosted meets, you need to submit the hours for them to be entered. Use this form to submit your hours. CLICK HERE
Reimbursements
Expenses related to your training will be reimbursed by SMAC. These expenses include the cost of your background check, registration, and any class fees. To receive reimbursement of these expenses you will need to complete a reimbursment form and send it along with reciepts to office@smac.email and officials@smac.email. Upon recipt and approval of the expense you will be issued a check. Due to accounting rules, here is not an option to have your reimbursement applied to your swimmer's account.
Reimbursement Form - CLICK HERE
