Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Official Thoughts :)

There are two main reasons why we have officials at summer league swim meets. The first is the most obvious: to provide fair competition. Imagine a breaststroke race where one swimmer swims correctly while the other flutter kicks the whole way. It is only fair to the legal swimmer to disqualify the flutter kicker, especially if that flutter kick resulted in a faster time for the swimmer. Having officials on deck ensures a fair outcome for all swimmers.

The other reason for officials is less obvious. Because human reaction time can result in watch time variations of three tenths of a second (or more) we always have at least two officials recording the order of finish of each race. Without this, approximately 20% of the results are wrong due to variations in timer reaction time and the occasional timer error. Timers aren't perfect, and they sometimes don't notice that the watch didn't start until after the race is over. Without officials recording the order of finish there is no way to know what result to give that swimmer. Also, when races are really close the watch times do not always reflect the true outcomes, and the order of finish is necessary to determine the true winner.

I say all this because I think there is a misconception about the purpose of the official. If we care about the fairness of the competition, and more importantly the accuracy of the results then we have to have 4-6 officials at each swim meet. No experience is necessary, although a small amount of training is required. (I personally think that being an official is much easier and more fun than working in bullpen or clerk of course.) I will be happy to conduct as many training classes as necessary. There are links to training videos on the website. If you would like further information you may contact me at ememlu@gmail.com.

Finally, a big thank you to those of you who have been to the training classes and/or worked at a meet. Every year I strive to make this program better and better, and your contributions are greatly appreciated!

See you at the pool...

emily

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