FOR ALL OFFICIALS

FOR ALL OFFICIALS

The Officials Tracking System (OTS) is a comprehensive database that is used to track a wide variety of information related to officiating. Individual officials can use OTS to view their Local Swimming Committee (LSC) certifications, national certifications, clinic and testing history, meet attendance includi

ng officiating roles at individual sessions, and national evaluations. They can also use OTS to apply for national certification once all the certification requirements have been met. Meet referees or a designated assistant use OTS to track the sessions worked in a meet by individual officials. National evaluators use OTS to enter evaluations. LSC Officials Chairs and their designees use OTS to certify and recertify officials in their respective LSCs as well as run a variety of reports to get an overview of the officials in their LSC.

To access OTS, you must be a registered official with USA Swimming, and you must login to the USA Swimming website. Depending on the device that you are using to access the website, you will then need find and select the “Officials” tab from either selection banner or “hamburger” icon.

LSC OFFICIALS CERTIFICATIONS

Your LSC-level certifications can be viewed under Officials > My Official History.

Requirements for LSC Certification have been standardized as of February 2024. Please contact your LSC Officials Chair for more information or for any needed updates or corrections.

ONLINE TESTING

Online Officials Testing is operational in the USA Swimming University online portal. The Foundations of Officiating course is required for all new officials and is highly recommended for everyone. Courses with embedded testing are now available for Administrative Official, Stroke and Turn Official, Starter, and Referee. These clinics and testing modules are required for new and recertifying officials. LSCs may offer supplemental non-mandatory clinics. Once the online required clinic and test have been completed, the clinic name, date of completion, and status (passed/failed) is reported in the official's Clinics profile under the My Official History tab of OTS.

An online clinic is not available for Chief Judge—clinics for this position are managed at the LSC level.

ATHLETE PROTECTION TRAINING, CONCUSSION PROTOCOL TRAINING, AND BACKGROUND CHECK

The Athlete Protection Training (APT) and Concussion Protocol Training (CPT) courses as well as the Background Check initiation process are all located in the USA Swimming University online portal. Completion of these courses, along with expiration dates, is tracked in OTS.

OTS MEET TRACKING

The history of sessions is available to each official through reporting under My Official History. Officials, sessions, and positions worked are entered for each OTS meet. Once assigned to the meet in SWIMS, meet referees have access to add and enter sessions for meets.

NATIONAL OFFICIALS CERTIFICATIONS

The National Certification Application is accessed under Officials>National Certification Applications. All past applications are available for review under My Official History/Nat Cert App History. Comments are provided on applications and may be viewed by clicking on the magnifier next to the application.

EVALUATIONS & ACTIVITIES

All previous evaluations and those stored in the holding tank have been transferred to OTS. Current evaluations are entered directly into OTS.

The Activities section of OTS is still under development for LSC use. Recording of activities for National Certifications is no longer required since all LSC certifications now require clinic attendance.

OTS CONTINUING DEVELOPMENT

USA Swimming staff and members of the USA Swimming National Officials Committee continue to discuss, align, and prioritize the development of various aspects of OTS in conjunction with other USA Swimming technology projects. Your LSC Officials Chair will be your contact for OTS updates. General information will also be distributed through the bi-monthly USA Swimming Officials Newsletter.

For questions, please contact your LSC Officials Chair.