Thurso
Amateur Swimming
Club
OK, I admit the water is chlorinated and it's lapping at the scum trough rather than a tropical beach. Oh, and the cocktails are really just orange squash (and clicking your fingers is definitely not recommended!), but it is 85 degrees and I got you looking so please read on, thanks!
Technical Officials
When a child is new to competitive swimming it soon becomes clear to parents that swimming is a very technical sport with many rules governing every aspect of a race, even more confusing is that these rules can differ from stroke to stroke!
At first it can be very frustrating to find out that your eight or nine year old has been disqualified for only touching with one hand at the finish of a breaststroke race, or rolled on to their front a metre too early in a backstroke turn; but there are reasons for this. As your child progresses they will want to attend galas, both home and away, the entries for which are allocated and seeded entirely according to times, so it is very important that the times of every competitor accurately reflect their ability under exactly the same regulations; in other words all times have to be fair which means we have to have technical officials.
You may be surprised at how many people it takes to officiate over an event, but at a pool like Thurso with just four lanes, if the meet is accredited (meaning the times recorded will be accepted just about anywhere in the world of swimming), an absolute minimum of twenty-two officials are required, and preferably twenty-six.
So, who are the people in the white clothes with clipboards and stopwatches? Well mostly they're parents of swimmers and ex-swimmers, just like you, but without them all the effort made by the swimmers would go to waste as the times recorded may not be accepted at many meets and entries are rejected.
Of course what you really want to know is "how do I get involved?".
Well the first step is to become a Timekeeper, this involves attending a presentation of an hour of so followed by a poolside assessment entailing the timing of ten races, it really isn't too daunting and the more timekeepers we have the easier it will be for existing timekeepers to move onto becoming Judges. I know you're hooked now so to start you on your way as a Technical Official please email the STO Convenor
Of course, if you're already a Timekeeper (or higher) and would like to move onto the next level then let me know on the link above.