Dear Swim Team Parents,

As you begin your Memorial Day Weekend, we wanted to take the opportunity to send a quick swim team update. We are excited to kick off our swim season with our first practice on Tuesday, May 28th! We look forward to seeing our swimmers in the water and starting what promises to be an exciting season.

We also want to announce that sign-ups for volunteering at the swim meets are now posted on SwimTopia. The success of our swim team relies heavily on our parent volunteers, and your participation is crucial. There are several volunteer roles including Referee, Stroke & Turn Judge, Starter, Clerk of Course, Skorekeeper and Head Timer that require a short training session. It is imperative that we have trained parents before our meets, as failure to do so could result in forfeiting a meet.Please consider taking the required courses for one of the trained positions. We can provide opportunities to shadow trained volunteers if needed to make you feel more comfortable. In addition, a complete list of volunteer positions is included below with a short description of each position.

Please remember that each family is required to volunteer for three full meets, or six half meets. The link for the training sessions can be found here Training Info - RSL Swimming (swimtopia.com), and you can sign up to volunteer via SwimTopia at this link Login - Fredericksburg Buccaneers (swimtopia.com).

Thank you for your support and cooperation. Together, we can ensure a fantastic swim season for our children.

VOLUNTEER JOB LIST

The Referee runs the meet. They need to understand the RSL rules and duties of all meet officials and should have experience with other positions such as Stroke & Turn Judge and Starter. They will instruct all officials prior to the beginning of the meet. The Referee is required to attend training on an annual basis.

Starter

The Starter is responsible to ensure each heat is started in a fair and equitable manner. The Starter takes control of each heat from the Referee once all swimmers have stepped up to the starting blocks. They announce the event and with the use of the starting system, initiate each heat. The Starter is required to attend training every year.

Stroke and Turn Judge

The Stroke & Turn Judge is responsible to ensure all swimmers are performing the strokes and turns correctly. They need to have a firm grasp of the competitive swimming techniques and requirements. They need to understand the RSL rules for strokes and turns. They are required to attend training every year.

Head Timer

The Head Timer meets with and instructs all timers prior to the beginning of the meet. They monitor all timers to ensure their watches are working properly. They work closely with the Referee and Starter to ensure Timers are ready for the start of each heat. The Head Timer is required to attend training every year.

Head Clerk of Course

The Head Clerk of Course organizes all entries for the meet to ensure swimmers are seeded into the appropriate heat for each event based on times submitted by the coaches. They ensure all swimmers get to their assigned lane in time for their heat. The Head Clerk of Course is required to attend training every year.

Head Scorekeeper

The Head Scorekeeper is part of the Scorekeeping Team and responsible for determining the correct order of finish for each event and the proper scoring of the swim meet. They receive the individual cards from the Timers and determine the official swimmers time, order of finish, and correct scoring of each event and input that information into the scoring database. Head Scorekeepers are required to attend training every year.

Assistant Clerk of Course

The Assistant Clerk of Course will help assign children to lanes and monitor the childrens’ whereabouts.

Data Input and Data Checker

The Data Input and Data Checker positions are an integral part of the Scorekeeping Team. As cards come into the scoring room, they are sorted and validated against the printed meet plan by the Data Checkers (one from each team). After the cards are sorted and validated, they are passed to the computer team (which includes the Head Scorekeeper) for data entry. Once times are entered into the computer, the cards are passed to the Data Checkers (one from each team) along with a print out of the results of data entry process. Data Checkers verify that there were no data entry errors.

Runner

The Card Runner transports the time sheets/cards from the Clerk of the Course to the Lane Timers and from the Lane Timers to the Scorekeeping Team.

The Water Runner distributes water to officials, timers and other volunteers to help keep everyone hydrated during a meet.

Ribbons / Awards

Ribbon volunteers will attach “Placement” stickers for each event onto the ribbons during the meet. They are also responsible for sorting and organizing the ribbons as they are generated.

Heat Winner Ribbons

Following each heat, the Heat Winner receives a ribbon for touching the wall first in their heat.

Timers

Lane Timers are responsible for validating the names of swimmers and ensuring accurate times are captured and recorded for each swimmer in their assigned lane. Stopwatches are provided by the Marlins. There is no training requirement for timers.

Safety Marshall

The Safety Marshall is responsible with patrolling the deck to ensure safety measures are followed for the duration of the meet.

Announcer

The Announcer is responsible to make periodic announcements over the PA system before and during home meets to help provide information to swimmers, officials, and spectators. No training necessary, but experience is helpful.

Best regards,

Buccaneers Swim Team