In this Issue:
Again, thanks to all of you who attended Officials Training. One of the incentives offered this year was a shirt – not just any shirt but a white “Midlakes Official” embroidered polo shirt. All have been delivered to clubs and there has been a lot of positive feedback from all sides – officials, coaches and spectators. So enjoy and avoid the barbeque sauce and spaghetti!
As discussed in training, we’re all part of a team, working together to advance the sport and provide learning opportunities for our league swimmers. Part of the objective is to create a learning environment for new officials as well, using our experienced Midlakes officials and USA Swimming “experts”. All of us should keep in mind that we’re all doing the best we can – and even at that, we all may miss a call or two. If you see such a situation, for those on the front lines, don’t be offended if the starter/referee or experienced official comes your way to offer help or asks a question or too. And for the experienced folks, please remember that we were once there too and when offering advice, make sure that it’s clear that you’re there to help and not criticize.
As a reminder, our officiating protocol calls for us to be “observers” not “inspectors” of the stroke and turn actions. So in that, don’t over analyze the swims but use your best judgment in calling those “blatant” infractions. On the other hand, there is nothing in the rule book that provides criteria for “taking it easy” on any stroke or “bending the rules”. The expectation from coaches, swimmers, parents and fellow officials (at your meet and others) is that our job is to provide the fairest competition environment that we can – swim to swim, heat to heat, event to event, meet to meet. Consistency is as important as, for example, walking the sides of the pool (to the extent possible based on pool configuration, mirroring the official on the other side) and all are a part of doing this important job.
Just a reminder – especially to those officials who just started this year – each of these Officials Updates has been put on the Midlakes Officials website (link above), on the lower right side. There is a lot of good information from prior seasons for your reading pleasure. Check it out!
Q1:
A freestyle swimmer swims to the wall without touching, stands on the
bottom, then extends their arm to touch the wall.
Is this a DQ?
A1: No. Freestyle is
the only stroke that allows a swimmer to stand on the bottom.
As long as they did not propel off the bottom or lean toward the
wall to touch, this action is legal.
Q2: Are we supposed to use the DQ code or just write words on the
DQ form?
A2: You should be using “words” not the “code” to document the
DQs (it’s up to the computer entry folks to translate your words into
the right code). This is
for 2 reasons – 1) words are an important part of our documentation and
explaining the infraction and 2) not all infractions have a code that
you could use. For example,
submerging after the 15 meter mark doesn’t have a code and it would fall
into the “other/other” category.
Q3:
A young swimmer panics during a race and almost drowns, requiring
assistance from the lifeguard to get to the end of the pool.
I know this was not allowed but wasn’t sure how to write up the
disqualification – what should I have documented?
A3: This situation would simply be documented as a “did not
finish” DQ.
As always, let me know if you have any questions or concerns. If you know of others that would like this information, please let me know - and if you are no longer interested in receiving these, let me know and I'll remove you from the distribution list.
Regards,
