Welcome to our Officials Pages

Kingsbury Aquarius Swimming Club is built on a dedicated team of volunteers, officials, teachers and coaches. Our officials are parents, guardians, grandparents, senior swimmers and even parents whose children have long left the club!

Who are officials?

Officials are always found at open meets and galas dressed in white around the pool. There are several levels of official, ranging from timekeeper, judge 1 (J1) and upwards to referee. The J1 officials are situated at both ends of the pool. If you are at the finish end of the pool, then your job is to time keep (using your stop watch and pressing the button which is attached to the timing system) and to check that the swimmer in your lane starts the race according to FINA rules. The J1 officials at the other end of the pool check that the turns (and the swimming leading up to the turns) are done according to the rules.

Why do we need to have trained officials as part of our club? 

Each open meet is required to have about 22 qualified officials. As a club, we are asked to provide officials, ideally 1 for every 10 swimmers, when we compete at away meets, county and regional championships. For every gala we attend we need to send along a required number of officials and if we are the organising club for a gala we need even more.

How do I train to be an official?

If you are 15 years of age or older it is now possible to train as a J1 official online. We are always in need of officials and we would like to encourage as many of you as possible to take advantage of this opportunity. Many of our officials are the parents of older children, so we would really love it if some parents of younger children did the training. It doesn't take up too much time and of course it's now much easier with the online modules.   

Before you commence your training you will need to register with the ASA via our membership secretary ([email protected]) and begin your individual DBS check.

Here's a quick summary of the training process: 

  1. Complete the online training modules. Once you have completed the online training you will be given details of a tutor/mentor who will guide you through the practical phase of the training. 
  2. Volunteer to officiate as a trainee at meets. Complete a minimum of 15 hours mentored poolside experience - trainees are allocated a mentor who will be able to share their experience with you and answer any questions that you will have. Don’t forget to take your training book with you to get your competencies signed off by the referee. 
  3. Keep your mentor up to date with you progress so they can complete your final sign off once all your competencies are signed off.  
  4. Upon completion of the course you will be issued with a certificate and you will need to send a photograph to ASA licensing before your license and log book can be issued. 

Once completed you will receive a log book, a J1 training record and excerpts of relevant FINA rules. 

What are the benefits of becoming an official?

There are many bonuses of volunteering as an official, including the following: 

-  You learn more about your swimmer’s sport

-  You don’t have to pay to get into a swimming meet if you are officiating and you get ringside seats that the pool

-  If you are officiating for a whole day you often get priority parking and lunch

-  You get a sense of pride from helping support your swimmer and the club 

-  You meet lots of new people           

-  You can add this impressive qualification and volunteering to your CV! 

I'm interested but I have questions..... 

Speak to Eleanor, our workforce co-ordinator if you have any questions about this new online course (her email address is: [email protected]) If you just want to know what it's like being an official, then ask any of the current officials - if you don't know who they are, just ask someone to point them out to you. They will be delighted to have a chat and answer any questions that you may have. 

You can find lots of useful information on the British Swimming website.  


KASC, Kingsbury Aquarius Swimming Club, KA Officials