Spring has finally arrived and so has the beginning of the Long Course Season. We are already off to a great start with the Spring Officials Clinics recently completed. Attendance was terrific! All of you current officials must be doing a great job of talking up our sport and communicating your enthusiasm to convince new prospects to join us on deck. On behalf of the Officials Committee I would like to thank all of you in advance for the mentoring that you will be providing to these new officials in the coming months as they complete their on-deck training sessions.
1) Restriction on Wearing More Than One Swimsuit – On March 18, 2009, right before the NCSA Junior National Championships, an interpretation of Article 102.9 was issued which stated that the use of more than one swimsuit during competition is prohibited. The announcement caught more than one swimmer by surprise with the responsibility falling on the Referees to prohibit any swimmer wearing more than one suit from swimming. Swimmers were given the “opportunity” to quickly remove the additional suit or face disqualification. The result was a flurry of questions directed to the USA Swimming Rules & Regulations Committee chaired by Bruce Stratton resulting in a clarification of the restriction. That clarification can be found at http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/_Rainbow/Documents/7fb90f14-81df-4977-98a8-028f96e4a2c5/Intepretation%20two%20suits%20-%20clarification.pdf .
2) Officials Briefing – As we kick-off the new swim season, just a reminder on the content that should be covered at each Officials’ Briefing at swim meets.
- The Briefing should occur prior to each session of the swim meet.
- Philosophy – discussion of the philosophy of officiating including an understanding of why we call infractions.
- Assign positions to each of the officials including jurisdiction, rotation and breaks.
- Discussion of deck protocol including positioning, use of headsets, clipboards and heat sheets, and cell phones.
- Deck Procedures – who is writing DQ slips, paper flow and notification of swimmer and/or coach
- Stroke Briefing
- Special information including issues that have come up in the meet and questions from any official.
Reminder: The standard for observing a swimmer is the same regardless of age or experience. This is especially important at the beginning of the season – not making a DQ due to the age or inexperience of a swimmer does more harm than good as the swimmer does not receive the feedback (DQ) so they can correct their stroke. The only exception to this is for swimmers with disabilities (please refer to rule 105).
3) Championship Meet Applications – Linked are the applications to officiate at our Long Course championship meets:
Senior Championships: PDF http://www.ilswim.org/officials/Seniors%20Summer%202009.pdf
Word http://www.ilswim.org/officials/Seniors%20Summer%202009.doc
Age Group Championships: PDF http://www.ilswim.org/officials/Age%20Group%20Summer%202009.pdf
Word http://www.ilswim.org/officials/Age%20Group%20Summer%202009.doc
We’re also trying something a bit new as well – if you are planning to work the champ meets, you may fill out the linked forms and send to Bonnie Quinn or you may reply to a separate email form which will be sent out sometime Monday. The separate email form is a ‘collect data’ email sent using Microsoft Access allowing you to fill out the appropriate fields. Once it has been received it will automatically update a database. This email will be sent from the ilswimofficials@ilswim.org account – not everyone will receive it due to some Spam issues – but we’re going to give it a try (you’ll also receive an email confirmation that your information was received if you choose to use this method).
4) Open Water Meet – Linked (http://www.decaturswimclub.org/Meet_Info/Lake_Decatur_Open_Water_Challenge.pdf) is information related to an open water meet scheduled for June 20 in Decatur. Jayne Spittler is the meet referee and invites any and all officials to come help and experience open water swimming! Please contact her at jaynespittler@sbcglobal.net if you are able to work the meet.
That’s it for now. See you on deck!
Cyndi Alexander
ISI Communications/Web Content
Officials Committee
ISI Officials Committee:
Rome Yount, Chair, rbyount@comcast.net
Eric Peterson, ISI Championship Meet Staffing, Eric.Peterson@gerberonline.com
Bonnie Quinn, ISI Championship Meet Staffing, dquinn1575@wowway.com
Steve Mitchell, ISI Officials Training, srm14645@aol.com
John Schulte, ISI Officials Training, unc.js3@comcast.net
Bob Van Oost, ISI Recruitment and Retention of Officials, rvanoost@ameritech.net
Cathy Harris, ISI Recruitment and Retention of Officials, catharineharris@comcast.net
Cyndi Alexander, ISI Communications/Web Content, cyndialexander@sbcglobal.net