Swim Meet Volunteer Position Details
Early-Arrivers
The following volunteers will need to arrive 15
minutes prior to check-in in order to be set up by check-in:
- Swimmer Check-in
- Volunteer Check-in
- Tattoo Person
- Gear Seller
- Set-Up Crew
Clerk-of-Course
- The clerk-of-course is critical to
keeping the meet moving without delays between heats.
- At all times there should be: one
heat of swimmers on the blocks, one heat waiting behind the blocks, and
3-5 heats lined up, with the first of these ready to move to the starting
area.
- You will need a pencil or pen to
make changes as required on the heat sheet.
- For each event, call out swimmers’
names in order of participation, using the heat sheet and direct the
swimmers to be seated on chairs/benches by heat and lane number.
- Remind the swimmers that they must
not leave their seats until directed to do so by the clerk-of-course.
- Try to keep three to five heats
lined up and ready throughout the meet.
- Direct the front row of swimmers
to the starting area as each heat is started. Younger swimmers will need
to be led all the way to behind their blocks.
- Please leave lanes empty (in the
case of no shows) unless directed by a coach. Please write “NS” beside the
swimmer’s name on the heat sheet.
Head Timer
- There is one head timer per meet –
chosen by and generally from the home team.
- Generally, oversee the timing
function, answer questions, and act as a back-up timer.
- Be available to substitute (or to
assign one of the alternate timers) for any timer who misses the start or
who is assigned to the lane in which their own child is swimming.
- Ask timers to report to you if
they are consistently recording differences of 0.2 second or more. Attempt
to determine the cause of such differences by timing several heats in that
lane yourself.
- Approximately 15 minutes before
start time, gather all lane timers together for the Timer Meeting.
- All timers should have a copy of
the lane timer instructions; you should review these instructions with
them. Review how you want them to signal needing you to back them up
during a race and/or ask for relief.
- Run a test of stopwatch and timer
accuracy: give a start signal, wait about 20-40 seconds and give a stop
signal with your hand.
- All watch times should be within
about 0.2 second.
- If there is a discrepancy,
determine whether the problem is with the timer’s technique or the
stopwatch by trading watches and repeating the test.
- Make adjustments as needed to
ensure fairness to all swimmers.
- Repeat the test if necessary.
- Timers do not catch heads. It is unpleasant when the
swimmer hits their head on the wall, but the coaches teach the swimmers to
count strokes from the backstroke flags so they should know when they are
coming to the wall.
- Contact BDA to assign an alternate
timer to replace any timer having significant difficulties obtaining
accurate times or a timer that needs a break.
Lane Timers
- Click for a printable copy of the Lane Timer Instructions.
- Check your watch and know how to
operate; practice before meet starts.
- Check swimmer in your lane against
the heat sheet; make sure it is the correct swimmer in the correct
lane in the correct heat.
- Do not distract the swimmer with
conversation except to confirm it is the correct swimmer.
- Check relay swimmers to ensure
swimmers are all named on the heat sheet and the swimmers swim in the
stated order. Note: the order can be changed prior to the beginning
of the race, but not after the race has started; the timer should
note any changes on the heat sheet.
- Do not stand between starting
blocks at the start of the race.
- Start watch at strobe/horn. Look
at watch to make sure it’s running–if not, immediately raise your
hand for the head timer.
- Be in position at the finish to
see the touch. Be able to look straight down the side to the bottom
of the pool. Do not catch a swimmers head at the wall.
- Stop the watch at the finish of
the race when the swimmer makes contact with the wall. It does not
have to be a legal touch.
- Record both watch times on the heat
sheet, and ONLY the watch times. Record time only to hundredths of a
second; if your watch displays thousandths (most won’t) simply drop
the thousandths digit (do not round).
- Note any timing problems on the
heat sheet, e.g., watch didn’t start, did not push button at final
touch. We don’t want to average a bad time with a good one.
- Remind relay swimmers to get out
of water at the finish of their leg.
- Pay attention to the number of
lengths swum so you know when to stop the watch.
Heat Winner Distributor
- This is a fun job because you bear good news!
- The home team supplies the heat winner prizes for the
meet.
- There is generally one heat winner distributor per
meet.
- Carefully watch each heat to see who touches the wall
first.
- Give the heat winner prize to the swimmer after he/she
gets out of the water.
- Heat winner prizes are important, especially to the
younger swimmers.
- Swimmers and parents watch to see who wins and swimmers
who win their heat and don’t get a prize are very disappointed.
- If it is a tie (from your perspective), give both
winners a prize.
Runner - Collect print outs and/or timer sheets after each event and take to the person running the computer.
Event Sign
Managers - The BDA event sign helps
the spectators, swimmers, coaches, and volunteers to track the meet’s progress.
- This is a new sign and
therefore new position for us, so if you have suggestions on better management
of the sign, please share them!
- The sign will have cards
for each heat number, gender, distance, and stroke. Your job is to keep the sign accurately
reflecting the current heat and event.
Note: we will not use every card every time, so the cards may not be in
order and you may need to flip around to make sure you have the right one!
- We hope to have the sign
assembled as part of set up but if not, you will need to assemble it.
- The sign is tall, so you
and the other sign manager will likely need to lean it down to flip the
cards. Or if you come up with another
solution, go for it!
Meet Set-up Crew
Your primary
responsibilities are to do whatever Matti needs you to do. You will need to arrive 15 minutes before
check-in to set up.
This could include,
but is not limited to:
- Setting
up chairs in the clerk area
- Not
letting the parents abscond with chairs until you have all you need
- Set
up tables in the swimmer/volunteer check-in area
- Tape
lane numbers on the chairs in clerk of course area
- Help
set up the pool deck markers, etc.
- Set
up the BDA Event Sign
Meet Clean-up Crew
Your primary
responsibilities are to make the pool deck and balcony look like BDA was never there! We want
this facility to be happy with us and let us keep practicing and holding meets there
so leaving it better than when we came is important.
Your basic tasks
could include, but are not limited to:
- Generally clean up
the pool deck and balcony
- Help replace chairs
to where the facility wants them stored
- Help coaches
collect lane markers, etc.
- Throw trash in the
trash can
- Collect lost items
and give them to Melissa
Starter
Your primary
responsibility is to keep the meet moving. The Starter announces
the events and ensures that the swimmers start simultaneously. This
position requires training and/or experience.
Stroke and Turn Judge Guidelines
A. Philosophy
- Your primary job is to ensure all
swimmers have a fair and equitable opportunity to swim their best. You are there to observe the
swimmers, not look for disqualifications. However, if you observe a
violation, you must DQ the swimmer.
- You must take your job seriously;
understand the rules and how they are applied.
- Call only what you see; not what
you don’t see. If you are not sure, do not make the call; the benefit of the doubt always goes
to the swimmer. Be confident and consistent in your calls. Do not be
concerned that you might be DQ’ing your best friend’s child; it is your
obligation if you see a violation. The coaches and swimmers know that
DQ’s are not to be taken personally.
- Have fun and make the meet
enjoyable for the swimmers and spectators. Remember, you’re there for the kids.
B. Prior to Meet
- Review technical rules the night
before or when convenient prior to the meet. Remember USS rules apply.
- Arrive at least 30 minutes prior
to the beginning of the meet. Report to the Volunteer Coordinator and identify yourself
as a Stroke & Turn judge.
- We are not using a meet director
at this (non-sanctioned) meet. Your pairings (you will be paired with a judge from the other team)
will have been assigned. If your positioning and jurisdiction have
not been assigned already, you may work that out among yourselves.
- Be present at your assigned
position 5 minutes prior to the beginning of the meet.
C. During the Meet
(click for a
printable copy of the Stroke Briefing)
- Know your assigned jurisdiction
and focus your attention only on that area. You cannot make a call outside of your jurisdiction.
Jurisdiction and positioning may vary from pool to pool.
- Give swimmers in your jurisdiction
your undivided attention. Be consistent in your officiating. Avoid any
distractions such as casual conversations with spectators, coaches,
etc. Always be aware of the appropriate heat of the swimmers in the
water. This is extremely important in order to avoid disqualification
of the wrong swimmer. Use a checklist if needed and repeatedly
confirm the heat number with your partner as well as via the voice
commands of the starter. Spend an equivalent amount of time judging
each lane in your jurisdiction, INCLUDING LANES WITH NO SWIMMERS. This will
avoid undue overscrutiny of swimmers in incomplete heats.
- All disqualifications are subject
to dual confirmation with your judging partner. Both officials must agree on the infraction or no
call will be made. Discussion of each infraction is
strongly encouraged. The swimmer is always given the benefit of the
doubt. A “no call” is far better than an inappropriate
disqualification.
- Don’t call what you can’t or don’t
see. For example, in the simultaneous 2-hand touch turn/finish rule for breaststroke
and butterfly events, don’t assume that a one-hand touch has occurred
if only one hand touches above the waterline. You must see the position of
both hands.
- If both you and your partner agree
on an infraction, one of you must immediately signal a disqualification by raising a hand
overhead.
- At the completion of the heat, one
of you must fill out a DQ slip. Particular attention should be paid to the identification of the
swimmer by virtue of event, heat, and lane. If you know the
name and/or team of the swimmer, put that as well. Make sure the
proper infraction(s) is noted on the slip. In the event of multiple
infractions, make sure each is indicated. Be aware an incomplete or improperly
filled out DQ slip will likely be rejected. In most instances this will be
your only communication with the swimmer via the coach. Since a
principal reason for stroke and turn judging is to provide the
swimmer with constructive evaluation of illegal stroke technique
in order to make the appropriate corrections for future competitions,
make sure each infraction is explicitly described. Additional
narrative comments on checklist slips are encouraged as a means of
providing further clarification. Do not worry that a coach will be upset
over a DQ; the dual confirmation is insurance that the call is likely
correct. Most coaches will welcome DQ’s as a means to reinforce what
he’s been telling a swimmer to do properly. You are not the bad guy.
- Once completed, a DQ slip should
be signed by one of you. This signed slip is verification that a consensus DQ has been made. If at
any time during the process of reporting a DQ, one of you changes
your mind and the consensus is lost, the DQ slip should be destroyed and
no call is made.
- A completed and signed DQ slip
should be held aloft by one of you until it can be handed over to the designated person who will
take it from you. **You may be instructed to hold the slips until the
end of the meet and turn them all in together.**
- Do not engage in conversation with
any swimmer, parent, or coach over judging or calls. Let the starter or coaches handle any
problems. If the coach asks you to do something different, do
not take it personally, and heed his instruction.
- Relay take-offs and turns are also
judged by dual confirmation. Each judging pair is usually assigned to either the
start or turn end of the pool. Each judge is separated from
their partner, one observing from low to high numbered lanes and the
other from high to low. Each judge watches takeoffs in all lanes. In
observing for early take-off, you should watch the feet of the
swimmer on the block first; when the feet lose contact with the block,
immediately look for the touch of the incoming swimmer. If the incoming
swimmer has not yet made contact with the wall, an early take-off is
observed.
- Note the lane, team, and swimmer
number (e.g, swimmer number 3 on the relay). If you observe an early takeoff, do not raise
your hand. Instead, after completion of the relay, the two
judges compare notes to see if there is a consensus as to the swimmer
and the lane; no conversation need occur. If you both agree on one or
more early takeoffs, a hand signal is given at that time to indicate
a disqualification. You must both agree on the lane and which swimmer or
there is no disqualification. With the exception of the first relay
swimmer, who must remain stationary at the start, the other relay
swimmers may be in motion but must have at least one foot on the
edge of the deck/block prior to starting (i.e., no running, walking,
etc., starts).
Swimmer Check-In
Your post will be the
check-in table on the balcony. You will need to
arrive 15 minutes before check-in to set up. You will have a list
of swimmers in the meet. Sharpies will be
supplied for you.
You will:
- Check off the
swimmers as present when they arrive
- If the swimmer
doesn’t have the event/heat/lane on their arm, use the sheet to mark it
on their arm
- Write the Event #, Heat #, and Lane # on their arm, in that
order.
- It is also helpful to write the event description (i.e. "50
Fly") beside the numbers.
- For example, "2|5|3 50 Free" would mean that that swimmer is
swimming in Event 2, Heat 5, Lane 3, and the event is the 50 Free.
- If you
are unsure of how to do this, the other Swimmer Check-In people can help you,
or you can find a coach to help!
- Veteran swimmers and parents are also good at
this and can help you out. :)
- Pass the BDA
swimmers along to the tattoo person.
- You will
not have to do anything with tattoos. The tattoo person will handle that.
Volunteer Check-In
You will need to arrive 15 minutes prior to check-in to set up. You will be stationed
at the check-in table on the balcony. You will have a list
of the volunteers, their name tags and their “stuff”. You will be checking
in both teams volunteers.From your post you
will:- Check-in volunteers
as present
- Give the volunteer
his/her name tag
- Remind these volunteers of the meeting down on the deck (with the Starter or assigned person)
- Starter
- Stroke and Turn Judges
- Clerks of Course
- Head Timer
- Timers
- Heat Winner Distributor
- Distribute “stuff”
to the volunteers as necessary (these things will already be in piles for you)
- Starter – heat sheet, pen/pencil, probably clipboard
- Stroke and Turn judges – clipboard with pen/pencil and DQ
slips
- Timers – clipboard, stopwatch, timer sheet for their
assigned lane, pen/pencil
- Head timer – two stopwatches
- Heat Winner Distributor – bag of prizes
- Event Sign Managers- heat sheets
- Team Parents- heat sheets
- Gear Seller- spare change and gear to sell
- Tattoo people –bucket of water, sponge, cloth, trashcan,
tattoos
- Clerks of Course – heat sheets, pen/pencil
- Swimmer check-in – swimmer list and pen/pencil, sharpies
- Remind the
volunteers to return their “stuff” to the check-in table after the meet.
Tattoo Giver
Immediately after
swimmer check-in, the swimmer will go to you Your responsibilities
are to:
- Keep that big stack of tattoos
dry!
- Make sure the swimmer is a BDA
swimmer!
- Give the swimmer one BDA tattoo
- Put the tattoo on the swimmer’s
upper right arm – this marks the swimmer as BDA
- If the swimmer has purchased other
tattoos, they can put them in other places.
There will be a
bucket of water, sponge and trashcan there for you to use Try to keep all the
tattoos application near you so the trash goes into the trashcan You will need to
arrive 15 minutes prior to check-in to set up.
Gear Seller
You will need to arrive 15 minutes prior to check-in time to set up. You will be stationed
near the check-in table on the balcony. You will be next to
the Tattoo Giver. You will get gear to
sell and change to use from Matti. Purchased tattoos
should be applied right there, if possible, to minimize trash elsewhere. Please return the
unsold items and the money to Matti. We will have a list
of shirt sizes for you to mark off which sizes you sell (so we know for our
inventory). We may have
pre-ordered shirts for you to give out.
Team Parent
Your job is
multi-faceted. You might want to bring a chair but you should definitely wear comfortable
shoes. ☺ Your primary
responsibilities are: - to keep the swimmers on deck for as much of the meet as possible
- to make sure any young
swimmer who needs to go to the restroom is accompanied by a responsible
person (which may be you)
- to help get the swimmers to the clerk area and
corral them back to their towels, etc.
Specifically, here
are your jobs:
- Help the swimmers stay within the
designated team area when they are not in the clerk of course lineup.
- If a swimmer wants to go upstairs,
make sure they are met by a parent or other responsible person.
- If a swimmer wants to go to the
restroom, accompany them or stand right outside the door until they are finished or
send an older, same-gender swimmer in with him/her. There are doors
to the outside from the locker rooms and we don’t want anyone leaving
without us knowing.
- If you see goggles lying around
unaccompanied, please find the owner and put them around their neck. This can
prevent a panic at the last minute when said swimmer has to rush to
the clerk area.
- Keep tabs on the younger ones –
checking their arms when you hear the call from the clerks. If you think one of them
is swimming, take the swimmer to the clerk and have the clerk check
their sheet. If the swimmer needs to swim, the clerk will take the
- swimmer. If the swimmer is not
swimming, you can re-focus him/her back to their towel.
- If the swimmer is ready to leave
the meet, help them gather all their things and make sure they get to a parent or other
responsible adult. It can be a crisis when Barbie loses a shoe or
Hans Solo loses his light sabre. Have the swimmer check carefully to see
that they have what they came with.
- No swimmer of any age should leave
though the doors or locker rooms, only the stairs to the balcony!
Photographer
We would love to
have pictures of BDA in action! Your job
is to take photos on deck at the meet, then make them accessible to the coaches
so they can pass them along to the parents.
Parents will always have the final say and can request taking down or
deleting any picture of their child. |