Swim Meet Volunteer Positions

As mentioned earlier, swim meets require a considerable number of parent volunteers to make sure the meet runs and is officiated correctly.  The smallest meets may have close to 150 swimmers and require 40-50 volunteers to run.  There is a position for everyone to learn from.  Pick a position, have someone train you and provide a helping hand to your team.

The Referee is one of the most important officials and this position requires previous meet experience as well as a thorough knowledge of the WCSL swim rules and procedures.  His word is final at a meet.  Referees must attend a preseason training clinic.

The Starter is responsible for making sure the swimmers in each heat are lined up at the blocks, ready to go and have a fair start.  Starters must have previous meet experience and must attend a preseason training clinic.

The Stroke and Turn Judges are positioned at the sides and ends of the pool to observe all swimmers for proper stroke and turn technique.  They must disqualify ("DQ") a swimmer for not swimming in accordance with the rules.  Stroke and Turn Judges need to have previous meet experience and attend a preseason training clinic.

The Scorekeeper should be familiar with the aspects of scoring a swim meet.  Times are brought to the table and need to be averaged for a final time and then ranked for place in each event. Times must also be recorded by a Recorder and a second person is needed to do this.

Ribbons people are needed in two areas.  One ribbons person stands behind the blocks and gives out heat winner ribbons to the winners of each heat.  The other ribbons worker stays at the scorekeeping table and attaches ribbons to the timecards of swimmers that placed in an event. Those cards and ribbons are then filed away in each team's box.

Three Timers are needed at each lane to use a stopwatch and time each race. One timer is designated as the recorder and records all three times on the swimmers card.

The Head Timer starts two backup stopwatches at the beginning of each race.  If a timer fails to start his watch, the head timer can hand off one of his watches to that timer so he can get a time on the race.

Runners are responsible for gathering all timing cards and "DQ" slips after each race and bringing them ("running") them to the scorekeeping table.  In 25 yard races, runners must collect the cards from the swimmers at the blocks and run them down to the timers at the end of the race.

The Clerk of Course is responsible for lining up the swimmers in their proper event and heats prior to walking them to the start blocks. This is particularly important for the younger swimmers.  The C of C should have a basic understanding of swim meet organization.

Hospitality workers are workers from the host team that are responsible for making sure all the workers are supplied with water throughout the meet.