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.
Officiating Requirements
1. All officials must be 14 years of age and older
2. All officials must be register annually in the Swimming Canada Events and Management System (REMS) to become an Active official each swim season (September 1 - August 31).
3. Officials must complete the training requirements for the position(s) they are working at a competition.
POSITIONS
Referee has full authority over the conduct of the meet, officials, and enforcement of all rules to ensure fair competition. They may intervene, postpone events, and confirm or issue disqualifications based on observed or reported infractions. The Referee oversees all officials, starting procedures, and the resolution of any disputes or protests.
Safety Marshal shall be responsible for all aspects of safety during the warm-up period by ensuring that all appropriate warm-up procedures are followed.
Timekeepers record the race time for swimmers in their assigned lanes, starting at the signal and stopping at the finish, and submit their times to the Chief Timekeeper.
Chief Timekeeper ensures backup watches are available, collects and verifies recorded times, and records the official results.
Inspector of Turns ensure swimmers follow the rules at each start, turn, and finish in their assigned lane.
Judges of Stroke ensure swimmers follow the correct stroke technique throughout the race.
Starter controls the swimmers from the time the Referee signals until the race begins, ensuring a fair and proper start. They decide if the start is fair, report any delays, misconduct, or violations to the Referee, and ensure all swimmers can clearly hear the start signal.
Recorder manages swimmer withdrawals, record results on official forms, and maintain scores as needed.
Chief Recorder observes race finishes, confirms placings, verifies and records official times, ensures disqualifications and no-shows are accurate, and witnesses the Referee signing the results.
Chief Judge Electronics oversees automatic timing systems, verifies that times are correctly recorded, assigns official times if errors occur, and reports early relay takeovers when applicable.
Administration Desk (formerly Clerk of Course) manages swimmer check-in, control, and conduct on the deck, handles scratches, coordinates swim-offs, and maintains records for heat sheets.
Meet Manager oversees all organizational and operational aspects of the meet, including equipment, personnel, entries, seeding, and results.
REGISTRATION FOR NEW OFFICIALS
Officials may request registration through your Club Officials Administrator (COA) or you can complete this online form to have Swim Sask process your registration.
After you are registered, you will receive an auto-generated email from noreply+NameofSwimClub@sportlomo.com with the subject line “Needs More Info” prompting you to complete your registration in REMS. Please note this may take up to 72 hours to receive this email.
REGISTRATION FOR RETURNING OFFICIALS
If you are returning to the same club as the 2024-25 season, you can now self-register.
Self-registration is for returning officials ONLY.
DO NOT use self-registration for swimmer or coach registration.
Registration Instructions for Returning Officials
Note: if you are a returning official, but want to register with a new or different club, please follow the instructions above for New Officials.
TRAINING
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). To access the LMS, click “Login to LMS” on your REMS home screen. Once logged into the LMS, select “Status” or “Clinics” at the top of the screen to find the list of courses.
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 and it will take approximately 60-90 minutes to complete both. Once you have completed this requirements, you are considered a Level 1 ‘Red Pin’ Official. See the Swimming Canada Certification Pathway for Officials for more information.
After an Official has completed Intro to Officiating and Safety Marshal, they may take the following clinics:
Chief Timekeeper – Self-guided online e-module.
Inspector of Turns & Judge of Stroke – Instructor-led virtual or in-person clinic, typically run together; approx. 4 hours to complete both.
Starter – Instructor-led virtual or in-person clinic; approx. 2 hours.
Chief Judge Electronics, Chief Recorder & Recorder – Instructor-led virtual or in-person clinic; approx. 4 hours.
Administration Desk (formerly Clerk of Course) – Self-guided online e-module.
Note: there is an additional e-module for Administration Desk for Heats and Finals
Meet Manager – Instructor-led virtual or in-person clinic; approx. 4 hours.
Referee – Instructor-led virtual or in-person clinic; approx. 4.5–5 hours.
Para Swimming – Self-guided online e-module.
READY TO VOLUNTEER AND OFFICIATE AT A SANCTIONED MEET?
Each meet is listed on the Swimming Canada Upcoming Meet List. Within the meet packages, you will find the 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.
