HOW TO GET STARTED

Thank you for your interest in officiating in the sport of swimming. The goal of any volunteer or official is to contribute to a fair, safe and positive environment. The official’s job is to uphold the rules by applying them in a fair and impartial manner and communicating their interpretation effectively. 

As an official, an individual must operate from a strong base. That base is made up of two factors:

• The authority of the rulebook: Swimming Canada Rule Book

• The basic philosophy that the officials conduct the competition in accordance with the rules.

New Officials

1. All officials must be 14 years of age and older 

2. To access the self-guided online e-modules or instructor-led virtual or in person clinics and officiate at sanctioned competitions, volunteers must register annually to become an active official each swim seaong (September 1 - August 31). Officials may request thier ClubOfficials Coordinator (COA) to activate thier account or complete this online form to initiate registration to have Swim Sask activate it for you.

• Upon receipt of your intent to officiate form, Swim Sask will activate your official account with Swimming Canada. (NOTE: This may take us up to 72 hours).

• Once your club or Swim Sask activates your account, you will receive an auto-generated email from Swimming Canada with your login information.

3. Once you are a Registered Active Official, you can sign up to take clinics or e-modules through the Swimming Canada Learning Management System (LMS) or also known as the EDU at edu.swimming.ca. You will use the same username and password as when you registered as an official. Once logged in, select “Status” at the top of the screen to find the list of courses.

4. The first 2 clinics that an Official must take are:

• Intro to Swimming Officiating (Timekeeper)

• Safety Marshal

These courses are both self-guided online e-modules. Once you have completed this requirements, you are considered a Level 1 ‘Red Pin’ Official. See the Swimming Canada Certification Pathway for Officials (revised Sept 2023) for more information.

Additional Training

After an Official has taken the 2 clinics above, you can move onto the following clinics:

• Chief Timekeeper (self-guided online e-module)

• Administration Desk (formerly Clerk of Course, self-guided online e-module)

• Inspector of Turns and Judge of Stroke (instructor-led virtual or in-person clinic)

• Starter (instructor-led virtual or in-person clinic)

• Chief Finish Judge/Chief Judge Electronics/Recorder Scorer (instructor-led virtual or in-person clinic)

• Meet Manager (instructor-led virtual or in-person clinic)

• Referee (by invitation only)

• Para Swimming (self-guided online e-module)

To take any of the e-modules, or to sign up to take an instructor-led virtual or in person clinic, log in to the Swimming Canada Learning Management System (LMS) for registered officials.

READY TO VOLUNTEER AND OFFICIATE AT A SANCTIONED MEET?

Each meet is listed on the Swimming Canada Upcoming Meet List and will display the name and contact information for an Official Coordinator - that is who you reach out to. Some meet packages (found on the Meet List) will outline a process to sign up to volunteer. You can filter this list by province, year, and/or month.