Before the Meet

Prior to any meet, preparation is key. Being an effective Referee is all about being prepared and proactive. There are a lot of pre-meet tasks a Referee completes days, and even weeks, in advance before stepping on deck for a meet.

Preparation in Advance of the Meet

If you are the lead Referee or Meet Referee, you will prepare weeks, or even months, prior to the meet. You will create a partnership with the Meet Director to lead the operations and functions of the swim meet. A positive working relationship with the Meet Director is important. Throughout the process of preparing for the meet, you will work with them to:

• verify the Meet Announcement is accurate prior to submission for sanctioning/approval,

• ensure a sanction/approval is obtained and included on the Meet Announcement,

• ensure all safety measures are in place for the venue, and

• recruit enough volunteers to staff the event (including the officials’ team).

Meet Announcement

Depending on the meet and your role, you will review the meet announcement before it is finalized. Your role as a Referee is to provide context from a Rulebook perspective and be sure all rules and regulations are followed within the announcement. There will be policies and procedures that should be addressed here, as well as regulatory language required as part of every meet announcement from USA Swimming and the LSC (EFSL).

Ideally, you should review the meet announcement before it is submitted to the EFSL for sanctioning.

As the Referee, you can have input into the structure and flow of the meet based on your experience and knowledge. For example, look at the order of events and how they are grouped. Are “like” events grouped together, such as the 50/100/200 Back? If all backstroke events are clumped together, will it give the backstroke swimmers enough rest between events? As the Meet Referee, you will also want your Administrative Official to review the Meet Announcement. This gives you an additional set of critical eyes for the review process and begins team building for the meet.

Your collaboration is critical. Sometimes a host may be thinking of an operational task that could be counterintuitive to something that's listed in the rulebook, for example, allowing athletes to enter too many events per day. It helps to understand what they are trying to accomplish so you can advise the host of language that would be clear, legal, and accomplish their goals. As you look through the meet announcement, you will validate any rules or specific citations to rules as accurate.

The LSC (EFSL) has a Sanctions Chair (EFSL Administrative Official) who is responsible for ensuring meet announcements are correct. Since the document acts as a contract between the Meet Referee and teams attending the meet, it’s important for you to be extremely familiar with the contents. 

Think of the meet announcement as a binding agreement between the Meet Referee, the Host, and participating teams. It guides all aspects of how the meet will be conducted—everything from how entries are processed, to what events are offered at what times and in what order, and how the competition will be conducted—so there are no surprises for anyone. Be sure you are comfortable and very familiar with the meet announcement. Your protocols for the meet should correlate with any instructions given here. 

Review these closely as you are charged with executing the competition as outlined. 

Meet Announcement Requirements

Take some time to review the meet announcement requirements below.

• Nature of the prizes to be awarded

• A complete schedule of lanes and times for all warm-up procedures which must be adhered to by all participants.

• Information about water depth measured for a distance of 1 meter to 5 meters from both end walls.

• A statement that no swimmer will be permitted to compete unless the swimmer is registered with their team and their parent/guardians must be registered with the EFSL.

• A statement indicating whether on-deck entries will be permitted and under what conditions.

• A description of the medical supervision (e.g., lifeguards, EMT, AED devices, etc.) available to athletes participating in the meet.

• Order of events and splits to be taken

• Key Contacts: Meet Director, Meet Referee, and Administrative Official.

• Entry Limitations

• Scratch Procedures

• Time Trial Information

• Required Statements:

  • Attendance at this meet as a volunteer, swimmer, coach, spectator, or in any other capacity implies acknowledgement of and agreement to comply with the EFSL Code of Conduct.  All violations should initially be dealt with by the Meet Referee at the time of the incident and then relayed to the Executive Board for further action as needed.

  • Open to all registered members of the [Host Team Name] and participating EFSL teams, as well as unattached EFSL swimmers. Parent/guardian(s) of swimmers must be registered with the EFSL.  Times achieved by swimmers with incomplete or missing registration information will NOT be recognized by the EFSL.

  • Any swimmer entered in the meet must be proficient in performing a racing start or must start each race from within the water. When unaccompanied by an EFSL member coach, it is the responsibility of the swimmer or the swimmer’s legal guardian to ensure compliance with this requirement.

  • Use of audio or visual recording devices, including a cell phone, is not permitted in changing areas, restrooms or locker rooms.

  • Deck changes are prohibited.

  • Operation of a drone, or any other flying apparatus, is prohibited over the venue (pools, athlete/coach areas, spectator areas and open-ceiling locker rooms) any time athletes, coaches, officials and/or spectators are present.

  • Held under the sanction of the European Forces Swim League.

  • It is understood and agreed that the EFSL shall be free and held harmless from any liabilities or claims for damages arising by reason of injuries to anyone during the conduct of the event.

  • Disabled or adaptive swimmers are welcome and encouraged to participate. Coaches should provide a written description of the special needs of the disabled/adaptive swimmer to the Meet Director. The swimmer (or the swimmer’s coach) is responsible for notifying the Meet Referee of any disability prior to the competition.

Safety Measures

Communication with the Meet Director is critically important as you proactively prepare for the safety of all participants. Are there things you need to know about the pool, such as unique characteristics? About the venue’s facilities? Knowing your pool is important, and the Meet Director is your expert in that area. You share the responsibility for the safety of the meet, while you may have different responsibilities. Be a support to them and collaborate to make sure you’ve covered all bases related to security of the deck and all Safe Sport guidelines.

While you may be responsible for recruiting an officials’ team, you may work with the Meet Director to ensure all volunteer positions are staffed. In your communications with them, agree in advance who is responsible for which tasks. The officials’ team, timers, marshals, and other volunteers are vital to the success and safety of the meet..

All volunteers must be in good standing with the EFSL and hold a collective responsibility for participants’ welfare.

Reference 102.10 in the USA Swimming Rulebook and the EFSL GMA for guidance on officials staffing minimums. As you set the deck, consider the fairness for the athletes. Also consider how to delegate important leadership roles. If multiple Referees are available or required (e.g. USA Swimming championship meets), you can break up the Referee role into subroles.

Evaluate the Structure of the Meet

As a Meet Referee, you also need to consider the structure of the meet and how events are lined up. This not only impacts downtime for swimmers, but you may need to orchestrate movements of the staff based on events. For example, if there are events of only 25 meters/yards, you may have to move timers from one end of the pool to the other. Are there issues with the pool layout, such as an obstacle or barrier, that impact where officials can be? It’s important to know about your pool and consider that within the structure of the meet.

Consider some of the other elements of the meet:

• Are there specific events that are positive check-in?

• Is it a developmental meet and you’re just using buttons? Note that the EFSL uses a single class of competition (age group) and the majority of timing systems used are manual watches and semi-automatic (buttons).

• Sometimes the facility impacts the equipment you will use.

• Is this a prelim/final meet, or timed finals? Note that the EFSL is timed finals only.

All of these items impact movements of officials and staff, paperwork, and the timeline of the meet. 

It is worth considering these and other factors. Even something like it being the first developmental meet of the season impacts the timeline. A Deck Referee and Starter may need more patience and time to get swimmers to settle, or get swimmers to respond to the whistle protocol. We are there for the swimmers. Considering everything that will impact their experience helps us prepare to make the meet a success.

Protocols for the Meet

Protocols can change from meet to meet depending on the type of meet, size of the meet, configuration of the pool, and size of the officiating team. The protocols for the meet should correlate with any instructions given in the meet announcement.

Note that the EFSL does not have a timeline restriction for 12&U events.

Preparation Before the Day of the Meet

Regardless of the level of competition, every official should prepare themselves for the meet. As a Referee, you are the last line of defense to make sure all calls are accurate, and that officials are giving the swimmer the benefit of the doubt. Utilize the resources at your disposal for answering questions and making decisions.

• USA Swimming Rulebook

• EFSL GMA

• Meet Announcement

• USA Swimming "Situations and Resolutions"

Keep these resources with you at the meet so you can reference them as needed. You're not going to remember everything, even with the best preparations. The important thing is to know the meet before you get there.

Beyond the rulebook and meet announcement, make sure you are physically and mentally ready for the meet. Get plenty of rest, eat well, and stay hydrated. Have a whistle, even a spare one, and any other supplies gathered like pens or a clipboard. 

Do everything you can prior to the meet to prepare yourself. This allows you to show up and be the best you can be for the athletes and coaches you will be serving.

On the Day of the Meet

On the day of the meet, you will want to arrive early. There are still many tasks to accomplish prior to the meet. You can start with face-to-face contact with the admin team, Meet Director, facility staff, other officials, and others as needed. 

If you’ve worked with this club or host before, you may be familiar with their procedures and routines. Never worked with this club before? Consider getting there a little bit earlier, so you have time to get comfortable with the set up and have conversations with those on the team. This allows you to get that out of the way so you can focus on serving the athletes during the meet.

Taking the time to walk the deck prior to the meet gives you the opportunity to check on the facilities, equipment, and that everything is ready to go for the meet.

Take ownership of this and check everything.

Note: In the video, checks for air and water temperature and quality are needed. Reference Rule 103.7 for more information. If these are out of compliance, notify the coaches and work with the Meet Director and Meet Committee to adjust any issues to within an acceptable range so your competition can continue.

When you establish lines of communication with the coaches, you can count on them to help solve problems as they arise. Take time to interact with coaches to form a partnership.

The Officials’ Briefing helps all team members know their responsibilities and provides information to make the meet run smoothly.

Final Details

There are a few final details to cover if you haven’t yet completed them in your travels on the pool deck. 

• Ensure that the Starter (or other designee) conducts the timer briefing. You may need to meet with them to go over where, when, and how the briefing should happen. This typically happens after the Officials' Briefing, usually shortly before the session starts.

• Meet with the Meet Director and/or safety volunteer(s) to determine how Safe Sport (EFSL Code of Conduct) and safety protocols will be enforced, such as deck access control, warm up pool supervision, and locker room monitoring.

Wrap Up

For the Referee, particularly the Meet Referee, the preparation before the meet can involve days’ and weeks’ worth of work. Review of the meet announcement, consideration of the safety measures, and ensuring enough staff are present top the list of these preparations. When meet day arrives, final preparations continue with walking the deck to observe all is ready, communicating with coaches and officials, and finalizing any last minute details. 

Being an effective Referee is all about being prepared and proactive, and this starts prior to the meet.

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