National Certification & Evaluation

The National Officials Committee has prepared this document to help answers questions regarding canceled OQMs and expired (and expiring) national certifications during the COVID-19 situation.

RESOURCE HUB

National Certifications and Evaluations

The National Officials Certification Program is administered by the USA Swimming Officials Committee. Its primary goal is to expand the education of officials through mentoring, participation and evaluation as well recognizing those officials who have demonstrated their knowledge of swim officiating at each level and position. Certification at any level requires a combination of several things including evaluations, local participation at meets, continuing education, and the training and mentoring of other officials.

NATIONAL CERTIFICATION PROGRAM MISSION

To develop officials who are competent, current and consistent from the LSC level meet to the highest level in our sport through a progressive training program based on an accumulation of experience acquired by specific meet attendance, mentoring and constructive evaluation.

LSC CERTIFICATION

Please contact your LSC Officials Char for certification and re-certification procedures in your area.

Find your LSC Officials Chair here.

NATIONAL CERTIFICATION LEVELS

There are two levels of National Certification – N2 and N3 – for each of 5 positions:

Stroke and Turn Judge
Chief Judge
Starter
Deck Referee
Administrative Referee
N2 for Administrative Official

Hoping to work at a national level meet? Please read the following expectations first.

NATIONAL MEET EXPECTATIONS

Evaluation & Certification Requirements

Certification Requirements Evaluation Templates

N2 Evaluation and Certification Requirements

N3 Evaluation and Certification Requirements

N2 and N3 Re-Certification Requirements

Guidelines for National Evaluators

National Meet and Educational Evaluation Guidelines

Admin Official Evaluation Template

Admin Referee Evaluation Template

Chief Judge Evaluation Template

Deck Referee Evaluation Template

Starter Evaluation Template

Stroke and Turn Evaluation Template

Officials Qualifying Meet List and Application

List of Approved Qualifying Meets for N2 and N3 Certification

Officials Qualifying Meet Application - should be submitted to HQ by LSC Officials Chair

Current N3 Mentors/Evaluators

Requesting Mentoring and Evaluation

Request an Evaluation False Start Scenarios Professional Documents for Each Position

Requesting an Evaluation Form

Suggestions for How to Use the Request for Evaluation Form

False Start Scenarios

Professional Official: Stroke and Turn

Professional Official: Administrative Official

Professional Official: Chief Judge

Professional Official: Starter

Professional Official: Referee

Professional Official: Administrative Referee

Mentor and Evaluator Resources

Characteristics of a Successful Mentor

Listening and Providing Feedback

Evaluator Appointment Guidelines

Evaluation Process for LSC Officials Chairs to Select N2/N3 Mentors/Evaluators

National Mentor Nomination

The below forms are used by the LSC Officials Chairs (or other N3F evaluators) to nominate N2 evaluators to become N3i evaluators, or N3i evaluators to become N3F evaluators. The pre-requisites for an official to be recommended for a National Evaluator appointment to the NOC are outlined on the USA Swimming National Evaluator Guidelines.

N3 INITIAL EVALUATOR NOMINATION

N3 FINAL EVALUATOR NOMINATION

OBTAIN NATIONAL CERTIFICATION

Once your evaluation is entered, you should receive an email notification. Certification is not automatic. The last step to obtaining your national certification is the application.

Click the button below (you must be logged in as an official) to submit an application for national certification.
It will be reviewed and you will receive email updates along the way.
The final update will let you know the certification has been entered in the system.
You can then print your new certification card from your Deck Pass Dashboard.

If you do not see the OTS National Certification Application button below, then you are not authorized to access this feature. Please verify that you are signed in and that your website account is linked to the correct membership record.

Evaluate the Mentor/Evaluator

We appreciate your taking the time to complete this short survey on the evaluation process. As we receive feedback on your experiences with the evaluation process, we can continue to improve it. Please be assured your identity is anonymous when completing this survey.

Start the Survey