SWIMMING OFFICIALS PANEL

Minutes of meeting held on 21 January 2016 at Shepton Mallet Leisure Centre

  1. Present: Fiona Bowen; Les Debenham; Graham Cockill; Peter Gonsalves; Neil Harper, Ben Batley; Carolyn Cox.
  2. Apologies: Tim Jones; Alan Withers; Jane Dawkins; Ray Warren; Keith Northcott; Kelly Podbury.
  3. Minutes of last meeting (1 Oct 2015): Agreed as an accurate record.
  4. Matters Arising: None
  5. Arrangements for 2016 County Championships:
  • KP has published full details of the County Championships Programme to all clubs.
  • There is a full complement of officials for each day to satisfy the licensing requirements of Level 1 and Level 2 meets.
  • Lead Referee: Graham Cockill
  • Licence Details: Sunday 24 Jan: 1SW160261

Sat 30 & Sun 31 Jan:2SW160262

Sat 6 & Sun 7 Feb:2SW160263

Sat 13 & Sun 14 Feb:2SW160264

  • Mentoring/Assessment of Trainees: trainees pursuing Referee, J2 and J1 qualifications will be gaining experience at each session.
  1. Update from SWASA Officials’ Committee:
  • Feedback from the County and Regional Co-ordinators Training Day in Loughborough on 10 October (attended by NH and GC) included:
  • A new J1 workbook is being prepared, but is not available yet. J1 trainees should not download the workbook, but should use a copy supplied by trainers. Helen Akers will supply printed copies of the J1workbook to GC and NH on request.
  • A new J2S(R) presentation is being prepared to show qualified Starters how to perform the duties of the Referee at a Level 4 Licensed Meet.
  • New application criteria for trainee Referees are now in force. Potential candidates must have undertaken at least 10 hours as a J2S, and at least 50 hours officiating in other roles since qualifying as a J2S. Candidates are now allowed 3 consecutive attempts to pass the examination: after that they must ‘rest’ for a year before beginning the training again.
  • Assistance at the Start for swimmers with a hearing impairment: the hearing impairment can be evidenced by either a S15 classification, or a Certificate of Disability indicating a hearing impairment. Assistance at the start should be given only by a person who is legitimately entitled to be on the poolside (eg coach, parent who is a member of ASA)
  1. Update from Somerset ASA:
  • Now that ranked times are needed to enter the County Championships, there is a need to consider future arrangements for enabling swimmers to achieve 800m and 1500m times at a licensed meet for inclusion in the ASA Rankings.
  1. Training of Officials:
  • Qualified since October 2015 meeting:
  • Referee: Fiona Bowen
  • J2S: Gordon Davis; Neil Godfrey; Chris Metcalfe; Diane Anderson.
  • J2: Steven James
  • J1: Ian White; Emma Lawton; Wayne Rawle; Julie Wright; Ann-Marie Edwards; Lynda Coles; William Barlow.
  • TK: Andrew Gussey; Toby Young; Anne Harrill; Fi Farquhar; Eleri Davies; Ann Touboulic; Sarah Handley; Matthew Hobbs; Kerry Spindler.
  • New J1 Courses started since October 2015: Millfield (6); TDS (3); Bath Dolphin (3); Keynsham (4); Norton Radstock (2); Street (4); Wells (6); Yeovil (8). The challenge remains to retain these candidates through to qualifying.
  • J2 Course: 7 candidates
  • J2S Course: 3 candidates
  • Referee: Mark Wells; Darren Mennie
  • A FINA Rules Update CPD Module will be run by GC on Thursday 17 March 2016 at Shepton Mallet Leisure Centre, 7-9pm.
  • The Contemporary Issues CPD Module can be completed online. Go to the British swimming.org website, then IoS. Search for the Contemporary Issues CPD Module for Officials. To access the module go to ‘My IoS’ and set up an account. Shop for the module and buy it (it’s actually free). Once ‘bought’, the module can then be accessed and completed. The pass is automatically recorded and a certificate sent out shortly afterwards. J1 trainees must now complete the CI module in order to gain the J1 qualification.

Please note: a powerpoint presentation of the new Contemporary Issues module is not yet available.

  1. Licensing Update: Every official at a licensed meet must be licensed and qualified to perform the role undertaken. Thorough checks are made in every case to ensure that the licence requirements are being met. J1 trainees who have achieved the Timekeeper Competency (evidenced in their J1 workbook by a qualified referee) may officiate at Level 3 and Level 4 meets. There is evidence of licences being revoked retrospectively in those instances where the terms of the licence are not adhered to.
  2. John Cooper Memorial Award 2016: The panel agreed that the recipient of the 2016 John Cooper Award for Outstanding Official should be Ray Warren in recognition of Ray’s long and distinguished service in Somerset.
  3. AOB: ThePresident’s Dinnerwill take place on 8 April 2016 at the Mendip Inn (details on SASA website).
  4. Date of Next Meeting: 29 September 2016, Shepton Mallet Leisure Centre, 7-9pm

(Special topic: Race Results)