Becoming an Offcial
Licensed galas and meets (such as Academy & Junior Galas, Club Championships, and Open Meets) require a full team of officials to perform vital roles like timekeeping and judging to meet licensing standards. This is crucial for ensuring that any times swum are officially recognised and recorded on Swim England’s central database. Failure to meet these requirements could result in times being deemed invalid. That’s why Elmbridge Phoenix Swimming Club is proud to support parents and volunteers in becoming qualified swimming officials.
By stepping into these roles, you’ll not only be directly helping our swimmers but also gaining a unique and valuable opportunity to contribute to the success of these events. Clubs hosting open meets are always eager to train new officials, ensuring the sport continues to thrive with a steady influx of fresh talent.
Becoming an official requires a commitment of time and a modest investment in equipment, such as a reliable stopwatch and appropriate poolside attire—white or black trousers, shorts, skirts, shoes, etc. In return, the Club will provide you with a high-quality Elmbridge Phoenix Swimming Club polo shirt, proudly featuring our logo. Officiating is an incredibly rewarding experience—it’s a chance to gain new skills, build confidence, and make a lasting impact on the success of our meets. More than that, it’s a fantastic way to be an integral part of the team, creating an exciting and positive environment for our swimmers. And, let’s face it, it’s far more enjoyable than sitting for hours in a sweltering, uncomfortable gallery!
Set out below is a summary of the various roles of Officials:
Timekeeper
This is the first step towards becoming swimming official. The role covers practical aspects of the requirements of a timekeeper by means of a short theory session followed by a practical assessment. Candidates wishing to train as a Timekeeper must be a minimum age of 14 years old. All those taking on this role need to be registered members of a British Swimming affiliated club or a member of the Institute of Swimming (IoS).
Judge Level 1
This is the first level of British qualification. The role encompasses the duties of a Timekeeper, Chief Timekeeper and Inspector of Turns. Candidates wishing to train for their Judge Level 1 qualification must be a minimum age of 15 years old and will be required to undertake some formal theory instruction and gain practical experience working poolside with a mentor. Upon qualification, candidates will be attributed with the qualification Judge Level 1 on the British Swimming database and will be encouraged to become a Licensed Official.
Judge Level 2
This is the second level of qualification. The role encompasses duties in relation to all aspects of judging and the theoretical duties of a Starter. Candidates wishing to train for their Judge Level 2 qualification must be a minimum age of 16 years and have already qualified as a Judge Level 1. The training follows a similar format to that of Judge Level 1 with formal instruction, mentored poolside training, completion of a workbook, followed by a practical assessment. Once qualified, candidates will be attributed with the qualification Judge Level 2 on the British Swimming database.
Judge Level 2S - Starter
Candidates wishing to qualify as a Starter will be required hold the Judge Level 2 qualification and have completed a minimum of 20 hours post-qualification experience as a Judge Level 2. Training will consist of a prescribed number of practical experiences as a Starter before undertaking a formal practical assessment. Successful candidates will be attributed with the Starter qualification
Judge Level 2S Referee
The minimum age for training is 19 years providing the candidate is aged 20 years as at 30 November in the year of the theory examination. In addition, candidates must have proven poolside experience as a Judge Level 1 and Judge Level 2 and must also have been qualified as a Judge Level 2S for at least one year with a minimum of 10 hours post-qualification experience in that role at the time of application.
Who to contact?
Please contact the Officials Co-ordinator Pawel Staniak at officials@elmbridgephoenix.com to register your interest in learning to become an official and he can advise you on how to register and undertake the initial online training course.
