Volunteer Basics
A successful swim meet takes many parent volunteers. In fact, it takes over 40 parents to time, officiate, and score a typical swim meet along with setup and clean up afterwards. We are always actively looking to increase the number of volunteers. The more volunteers we have, the less each household has to volunteer!
Please do not be intimidated by signing up initially. Most jobs do not require any previous experience or training. Volunteer Official positions require some training (see below), but that training is offered through NVSL for those interested. Swim Reps and our Officials Coordinator, Ken Simonsen, will guide you through official's training.
Each family will be expected to accumulate at least 10 volunteer points in the 2026 season. There will be more information to follow later this Spring.
Jobs that require NVSL training
If you are interested in a job that requires NVSL training, please check the NVSL training schedule. All trained volunteers must recertify every two years. We cannot have too many certified officials, so all help is welcomed!
Referee and Chief Judge
Seeking volunteers! The chief official for each swim meet. He/she is responsible for the conduct of the meets and is the final authority on the interpretation and enforcement of all swimming rules. Prior to the start of each race, the referee sounds four short whistles to advise the participants to get ready. After event is announced by the announcer or starter, the Referee sounds one long blast as a signal for swimmers to get into position for the start or to jump feet first into the water for a backstroke event. For Backstroke events, a second long blast is given to bring the swimmers to the wall for the start. When the referee sees that all the swimmers are ready, he extends his arm pointing towards the starter. At this point, the starter takes control.
Assistant Referee or “Chief Judge” is also provided by the visiting team for B Meets.
Seeking volunteers! This person is responsible for starting each race during a swim meet. They wait for clearance from the referee, indicate to swimmers to go into a racing stance, and then start the race. We are only responsible for providing a starter at home meets.
Seeking volunteers! Stroke and Turn judges stand at either end of the pool and ensure that all starts, strokes and turns are done legally. If they see that a swimmer is not swimming legally, they will write up a DQ slip and discuss it with the meet referee.
Jobs that require previous experience
These jobs may have training available, but training is not mandatory. However, for A Meets, we always strive to put experienced people into these positions. If you're interested in one of these positions, a B Meet is a great time to get experienced.
Announcer
The home team provides one announcer. He/she works along with the referee to make sure the meet runs smoothly. Ensures warm ups start and end on time. During A meets, he/she will announce the name of every swimmer. Periodically they will report results of races if time is available.
Chief Timer and Asst Chief Timer
The home team provides the Chief Timer and the visiting team provides an Assistant Chief Timer. This individual is responsible for all the timers at the swim meet. They fill in if a timer has a problem with their watch. They make sure that all the time cards are collected and properly filled out at the end of each race, and sent to the scorer’s table. This individual is responsible for handing out stop watches to the timers and collecting them at the end of the meet.
Clerk of Course
Each meet we provide one or two individuals in this position. They receive swimmers from each team area prior to each event, organize the swimmers by lane, and make sure they make it to the correct end of the pool to start the race.
Jobs that require no special training
These jobs are great for new swim team parents, and are essential for a meet to run smoothly.
After the individual events are over during the A meets, relays begin. Relay Take Off Judges make sure that when a child leaves the wall, the previous child has touched. You will receive a brief training session from the Referee during the meet.
There is one runner provided by the home team. The runner receives the time cards from the chief timer and makes sure the time cards make it to the scorers table.
Each team provides 9 timers. Each lane will have 3 timers (mixed between the two teams). They are responsible for starting the watch when the starter goes off, and stop the watch when any part of the swimmer touches the wall. They make no decisions regarding legal swimming or not. They also fill out the time card and hand it to the chief or assistant chief timer.
Receive the time cards from the runner. They determine the place order for each event and submit the results to the data coordinator for scoring. They help verify the score. The table workers also are responsible for creating ribbons for each event.
Each team provides at least one marshal at all meets (including divisional meets). This person wears the “orange vest of authority” and ensures that swimmers are in the appropriate location, noise is kept to a minimum, monitors warm ups, and generally acts as a parent to make sure everyone behaves.
They assist the Shark Shack Coordinator(s) with shopping, set up, clean up, and sales. Every effort is made to ensure concession workers see their child race.
Shark Leadership Council (SLC)
In 2024, we formed the SLC. Led by the Swin & Dive Team Reps, it is a team of Coordinators who have volunteered to be responsible lead certain aspects of the Swim & Dive enterprise. Coordinators are awarded 10 volunteer points at the start of the season which satisfies the minimum annual requirement.
Team Reps - Elaine Simonsen, Ben Spencer, & Kelly Douglas (Swim); Meg Bellomo (Dive): Responsible to the SRRA Board of directors for team operations. Chair the SLC.
Email: [email protected]
Officials Coordinator - Ken Simonsen: Responsible for managing Referee, Chief Judge, Starter, and Stroke & Turn positions, to include NVSL-mandated training. Also responsible for ensuring these positions are filled with volunteers for all meets.
Data Coordinator - Nicki Miller & Chi O'Driscoll: Responsible for ensuring compliance with swim team data requirements.
Swim Development Coordinator - Craig Setlow: Responsible for working with the coaching staff to build swim development plans, both general and tailored. Engages with parents and team reps regarding specific aspects of swimmer development
Volunteer Coordinators - Emily Oas: Responsible for ensuring all volunteer positions (except officials) are filled for all meets. Manages volunteer qualifications for those positions that require them.
Shark Shack Coordinator - Theresa Bardolf: Responsible for all snack bar operations for home meets and the end-of-year party.
Merchandise Coordinators - Laci Tang & Michelle Cummings: Responsible for design, order, and delivery of team merchandise (i.e. suits, caps, shirts, etc.).
Treasurer - Loan Nguyen: Assists Team Reps with building the annual budget and manages finances throughout the year.
Infrastructure Coordinator - Pete Corbino: Manages all support infrastructure and equipment, to include set-up/tear down before and after home meets.
