Become an Official

Anyone can become an artistic swimming official at any time in their life, however, experience and understanding of the sport as a parent, coach, volunteer or former artistic swimming athlete will certainly help.

BCAS Officials Eligibility Requirements

• Be at least 15 years old at the time of Judge Level I course. (Note: Allowing for up to four years of experience before qualifying for the CAS Level III Course at age 19).

• Be a registered member in good standing with BCAS and renew registration annually.

• Be certified to officiate in British Columbia having completed and passed the appropriate officials training programs.

Please check out our Calendar for upcoming courses. If you wish to be added to a waiting list in your area, please contact the Sport Services Coordinator at ssc@bcartisticswimming.ca.

BCAS created the Officials Professional Development Bursary to assist officials who are interested in opportunities to upgrade their experience, education and/or certification level. 

Officials Development Pathway

BCAS, CAS and FINA are responsible for different levels in the Officials Development Pathway.

Level	Lead Organization
Level I Level II	BC Artistic Swimming
Level III Level IV Level V	Canada Artistic Swimming
FINA G FINA B FINA A	FINA

 Provincial Pathway

BCAS is responsible for the delivery of the Level I and II Judging courses. These course provide an opportunity to learn by class discussion, video analysis and swimmer demonstration. Participants will develop their ability to understand, identify and score fundamental figure components, transitions and judging difficulty within a figure. In addition, routine evaluation includes items such as routine components, marking routines, detailed and general guides, tracking routines, technical vs. artistic judging, etc. Other units such as ethics, refereeing, judging duties and rules are also covered.

Upon completion of the course, new officials apprentice on deck at competitions (scores are not revealed) and work toward full certification. Level I Judges may officiate Provincial Stream figures & routines as well as Masters’ routines. Level II Judges may officiate Provincial Stream, Masters and National Stream figures and routines.

Judge Level I

	Module A	Module B	Module C	Module D
Theory	Basic Body Positions & Body Movements as per FINA Manual	Provincial Stream Figures, Marking Rubric & Height Standards	Provincial Stream & Masters Routines	Refereeing, Rules for Figures and EThics
Practical	In class identification and completion of Judge Level I assignments.	Practice Judge a minimum of 3 complete figure events. Receive a satisfactory or better rating in figures.	Practice judge a minimum of 8 routine events at the Regional or Provincial Level.  Receive a satisfactory or better rating in routines.	Assist with three PS events and work with referees doing off deck duties.

 

Judge Level II

	Module A	Module B	Module C	Module D
Theory	13-15 FINA Figures	Junior  Senior FINA Technical Elements	13-15 FINA, Junior FINA, Senior Tech & Free, Combo	Refereeing & Ethics - Dutues and Rules, Role of the Chief Referee and Chief Judge at National Competitions
Practical	Practice Judge a minimum of 3 complete 13-15 FINA figure events.  Receive a satisfactory or better rating ifgures.	Practice Judge a minimum of 3 complete Junior FINA figure events. Receive a satisfactory or better rating in figures	Practice Judge a minimum of 8 routine events at the National Stream level. Receive a satisfactory or better rating in routines.	Assists with three NS events and work with referees doing off deck duties.

 Level II Provincial Officials will need to complete and pass the Level II exam every two years.  

 National Pathway

Judge Level III

Nominations to Judge Level III are made by BCAS's Officials’ Committee in August of each year. Please express your interest to the Chair of the Committee by the end of the competitive year. A logbook of your Level I and II judging experience as well as a resume outlining all aspects of your artistic swimming history are required for your application to Canada Artistic Swimming’s Officials’ Committee.

To achieve Level III Certification, candidates must:

• practice judge one full figures event and a minimum of seven routine events (prelims and finals) at the national qualification meet, or the Canadian Championships;
• receive at least 65% on the formal evaluation in figures and routines with the majority of routine events 60% or better
• achieve 80% or higher on the written exam.

Once certified, first year assignments will likely be as an alternate on the panels.

Judge Level III and IV examinations are administered by Canada Artistic Swimming. Nominations to level IV are made by the Canada Artistic Swimming Officials’ Committee.

Judge Level IV

Participation in the Level IV Judging course is by invitation from the national SCOT certification and evaluation leader only. Candidates are selected based on activity level as well as having at least two consecutive years of formal evaluations which are close to 75% or better in both figures and routines. Once identified as a candidate, participants must complete the following to achieve Level IV certification:

• write an exam and receive 90% or better;
• achieve an evaluation of 75% or better for figures and routines with the majority of the routine events 70% of better;

Note that practice judging is only permitted at the Canadian Open.

Once full certified as a Level IV Judge, officials will be assigned to judge at national competitions, usually each year. The first time judges at the Canadian Open are usually assigned as alternates.

FINA has stipulated that each federation is only allowed to have 5 "G" level judges, 5 B's and 5 A's.

Judge Level V – International Trainee

When there are openings on the FINA "G" judge list for Canada, the CAS International Officials Team will ask the Committee for recommended of Level IV candidates to be considered for Level V training. These candidates must be very knowledgeable, extremely active at the national and provincial levels and have four or more very strong formal evaluations.

Level V candidates will be asked to submit a resume to the international officials’ team. If any of these candidates are selected for further consideration, they will be given a written assignment plus have an oral interview with the panel consisting of the Canadian FINA representative, Canadian international officials' leader, a past Olympic Judge and the Chief Operating Officer for CAS. Some of the criteria for selection by the committee are, sport knowledge, experience, leadership skills, stress management, interpersonal and communication skills, flexibility and willingness to learn etc.

Once this process is complete, the  panel will decide if any of the candidates will be accepted as a Level V Trainee. If chosen, then the trainee can be selected to judge and travel with an experienced Level V Judge to international meets. These meets are usually ones that Canadian clubs are attending.

 International Pathway

FINA G

A Level V Judge must attend a FINA judges' school and write an exam. Note: Usually a judges' school is offered on each continent and CAS may assist with funding. Once the judge has completed school and passed the exam, Canada Artistic Swimming can request that FINA add their name(s) to the FINA "G" list.

To maintain the FINA "G" rating, the judge must have 4 positive evaluations at 4 international meets over 4 consecutive years, attend judges' school and pass an exam every 4 years. FINA "G" judges must complete and pass an annual online exam (New December  2018).

 

FINA A

The FINA Technical Committee will meet annually to determine if any B judges are ready to be upgraded to FINA "A". Their decision is based on good evaluations and an overall lack of bias from 4 international meets, over 4 consecutive years. At least 2 must be senior level meets.

To maintain the FINA "A" rating, the judge must have 4 positive evaluations at 4 international meets over 4 consecutive years and write a judges' exam every 4 years. FINA "G" judges must complete and pass an annual online exam (New December  2018).

At any time, FINA has the discretion to downgrade a judge as a result of weak evaluations and/or being extremely biased. FINA now has a mandatory retirement the year you turn 65.