Volunteer Jobs at Meets

You will be given a stop watch and instructed by the meet starter to start the watch when the starting strobe goes off, and stop it when the swimmer in your lane touches the wall. Each lane has two timers. In summer swimming, the average of the two times is the one recorded for official meet times. You and the other timer in your lane calculate the average and tell that time to the runner. This is a no-pressure, fun job that gets you right in the middle of the action.

The announcer will give you a line-up card before each race and you will go to each lane to collect the times, as well go to both Place Judges to obtain their finish results. If the place judge results do not agree, for Finishes or possible False Start DQ’s… then you also must record how the Starter called the race, in order to obtain dual confirmation. Additionally, you will keep an eye on the Stroke & Turn judges to see if they have any DQ’s & collect their DQ slips (or note the DQ lane & reason on the card). The starter should be notified of all varsity meet DQ’s so he can tell the coaches at that time. Finally, you take the completed card, with times, places, and any DQ’s noted, to the scoring table. Make sure you are communicating with the Starter so that no new races are started before you record all the data from the previous race. Sharing the job speeds up the process. No experience is necessary, but you must be quick on your feet!

This is a clerical position that works at the scoring table where the times are recorded and the scores are kept. This job can be a bit tedious, but it is very important. In summer swimming, each club has one worker scoring for the home team & one worker scoring for the away team. Then at the end of the meet, both teams will immediately have a full set of results.

This is an easy clerical job, with more flexibility than most meet jobs. You sit near the scoring table and check the line-up cards after the scorers are done with them to see if any team or pool records were broken. If so, write them down for the announcer to publicize and fill in a ribbon for the swimmer. You also record all triple winners for home meets and complete a form after the meet which needs to be faxed to the Delco Times by 1:00.

You will be assigned to stand at one end of the pool to watch the finish of each race. It is up to you to determine the order in which the swimmers finish. Your results are taken to the scoring table by the runner. You will also watch the relay change-overs for false starts. This job is important, because place judge finishes, not times, are what count for official meet results.

Each team supplies one stroke & turn judge for the meet. You will walk along the side of the pool watching the swimmers as they race. You will have to judge if their strokes & turns are legal or not. This job does require some experience, but you are rewarded with a great view of the action. We would be happy to help you get trained, if you are interested!

Using a whistle & a starting strobe device, you are responsible for getting the swimmers on and off the blocks at the same time. You also have oversight responsibility for the judging at the meet. You must be familiar with the NCAA & Delco League rules & you will provide “dual confirmation” for false start DQ’s and place judge finish results. You are responsible for keeping the meet moving. This is a true leadership position that requires a strong, experienced person.

A good job for a person with a strong voice. You will be responsible for announcing the names of the swimmers before each race. There is some pressure here. You must work with the starter to keep the meet moving quickly and smoothly.

The snack bar is a great place to help if you are not very interested in swimming or if you have younger children who may distract you occasionally. It is an important fund raiser for the team and we need your help to staff it. We try to schedule as many people as possible to work the snack bar so that people can work in shifts.

50/50: This is a great way to meet everyone who comes to a swim meet! The 50/50 is another important fundraiser for the swim team. Tickets are sold during the course of the meet and a drawing is held towards the end of the meet. The winner gets half of the money collected.

Those 8 and unders and 10 and unders sure do confuse easily. It’s up to the deck parents to make sure the younger kids are where they are supposed to be, when they are supposed to be there. Traditionally, older team members have enjoyed doing this job at JV meets, but we still depend on parents for the varsity meets.