Parents, 

As most of you all know swimming is an all hands on deck sport. Meets require a minimum of 35 volunteers from each team to run a meet properly. We appreciate all of our parent volunteers. We need 4 parents to become certified stroke and turn judges. This does require you to watch a 30-minute video and take a test right after. This will certify you for 3 years.

Please let me know if you are interested. I have attached more info about Stroke and Turn Judges.

A Stroke and Turn Judge is an official in competitive swimming who ensures swimmers follow the rules for each stroke and execute legal turns and finishes.

What they do

A Stroke and Turn Judge watches swimmers during a race to make sure every movement complies with the rules set by governing bodies like USA Swimming or FINA.

Key responsibilities

• Stroke compliance:
  They check that each swimmer uses the correct technique for strokes like freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly. For example:
  • Breaststroke requires simultaneous arm and leg movements
  • Butterfly requires both arms moving together over the water
• Turns:
  Judges ensure swimmers perform legal turns at the wall. Each stroke has specific rules—for instance:
  • In freestyle, swimmers can touch the wall in any way
  • In breaststroke and butterfly, swimmers must touch with both hands simultaneously
• Starts and finishes:
  They observe that swimmers start correctly and finish according to the rules (e.g., proper touch at the wall).
• Infractions (violations):
  If a swimmer breaks a rule—like doing an illegal kick or improper turn—the judge reports it. This can lead to disqualification (DQ).

Where they stand

Stroke and Turn Judges are positioned along the sides and ends of the pool to get clear views of swimmers throughout the race.

Why they matter

They help ensure:

• Fair competition
• Consistent rule enforcement
• Accurate results