Officiating Update - New Online Education Modules Released

Announcement of our New Online Education Available for Judge of Stroke

We are thrilled to announce that we have completed development of new online education modules. To complement the existing offering for Timekeeper and Inspector of Turns (IOT) modules, we have continued to rollout the education tools provided to our members by offering Judge of Stroke (JOS) online modules as the next step in the Officials Pathway.

Since launching our new Technical Officials Pathway in late 2023, we have been working on bringing the pathway to life. With a focus on consistency, clarity and transparency around the country, the completion of these online education modules continue our big steps toward rolling out the pathway. You can learn more about the officiating pathway by clicking on the link below.

Officiating Pathway

The online modules are designed to support our community of new, developing officials as they learn the rules and responsibilities of a Judge of Stroke on their journey as technical officials. The modules are interactive, assisting the learning process and reinforcing knowledge through mini quizzes along the way. The online learning platform will be complemented by practice on pool side to help technical officials build their skills at competitions, with a practical assessment completing the Judge of Stroke qualification.

Whilst the modules are particularly beneficial for those new to officiating, these online modules are also a great chance for officials of any level to complete as a refresher.

The online education for our catalogue of Timekeeper, IOT and JOS are all available by clicking on the link below and creating a free account on the Sport Tutor platform thanks to Sport NZ.

Access Online Modules

The JOS module is expected to take 35 minutes to complete, making it easy to work through at home in your own time and you can re-visit at any time to assist with learning.

Alongside the launch of the modules, learning logs have been provided to complement the online theory with practical experience. The Inspector of Turns learning log has been updated to better meet the user's needs, and a Judge of Stroke learning log has been shared to support the development of our officials.

Officials Education

Swimming NZ's Technical Officials & Volunteer Development Lead, Carlrine Gillespie, is excited about making this development available.

"We are proud of our ongoing work in developing these modules. Providing online education for the Inspector of Turns has been incredibly well received with lots of positive feedback. We believe the Judge of Stroke module will further support our officials in their progression along the pathway."

Swimming NZ’s Head of Participation, Competitions & Engagement, Dale Johnson, acknowledges the contribution of certain individuals during this process.

“There was a lot of work done behind the scenes to bring this to life. I'd like to say a particularly big thank you to two members of our community, Jasmine Hardy Mills and Rose Crawford, for their ongoing tireless work in creating and editing these modules. We know you put hours of work into this project over the past year and we are extremely grateful."

Johnson also thanked the Technical Advisory Committee for their support throughout this project.

"Thank you also to our Technical Advisory Committee for their continued efforts in delivering the pathway and their considered feedback when reviewing these modules. We are excited about how we are tracking in support for our technical officials.”

Gillespie believes there is no better time to consider starting your journey as a technical official.

“We believe with the completion of these online modules and continued work on the technical officials pathway, there is no better time to start your journey to being an official. Being an official helps you develop many life skills and it's incredibly rewarding to be involved in supporting a swimmer's experience in the sport. There is no better seat in the house than as an official.”

Learn more about how to get involved as a technical official, the officiating pathway and access the resources available to assist with your development via the links below.

Officiating Pathway

Get Involved in Officiating

Technical Officials Education & Resources

If you have any questions to help you start your journey as an official, please feel free to email Carlrine at officials@swimming.org.nz to learn more.