Support our swimmers by studying for this advanced qualification.
An Inspector of Turns (IoT) is a turn judge. Their role is to ensure fairness for all by checking that every swimmer starts, turns and finishes correctly during a race. They work in partnership with the Judge of Stroke and Referee to monitor the entire race.
Why become an Inspector of Turns?
The work of these officials is highly valued by swimmers and coaches. Whilst no athlete enjoys being disqualified, IoT feedback is crucial for development, and ensures that nobody has an unfair advantage. Your work will help give swimmers the benefit of fairness and feedback on more occasions.
To the untrained eye, correctly assessing a start or turn can appear to be extremely challenging. In practice the rules are straight forward to understand and apply. This course contains extensive video lessons to ensure full understanding. Unlike some other roles, candidates will require considerable practical experience and a very thorough assessment before being accredited.
Course objective
This course will fully prepare you to operate as trainee Inspector of Turns under supervision.
Course scope:
- Starts, turns, finishes and relay changeovers.
- Freestyle, Backstroke, Breastroke, Butterfly, Individual Medley and Medley Relay.
- Lap counting.
- Backstroke ledges.
- Infraction Reporting.
- Pooldeck protocols.
- Chief Inspector of Turns.
- Meets up to State level.
To give the full picture, rules for entire strokes will be taught, not just starts, turns, finishes and changeovers. Questions will however be restricted to the IoT syllabus.
Excluded:
- National and International meets
- Judge of Stroke jurisdiction issues
Contents:
- 11 lessons mandatory
- Training notes and practice exercises recommended
- Swimming Australia Training notes recommended
- Online multiple-choice theory test mandatory (approximately 30 mins)
This course is suitable for both individual and group study.
Award
Successful candidates will be awarded theory pass documentation. They should then obtain considerable practical experience under expert supervision. Once they are ready assessment should be arranged with an accredited assessor, taking along their documentation.
Duration
The content of this course can be completed in approximately 6 hours of study time, depending on prior knowledge and experience. In addition, expect to invest 10 – 20 hours gaining practical experience on the pool deck under supervision at a number of different meets. Candidates will want to refer back to the content of this course periodically whilst they gain experience. Once accredited, periodic recaps are highly recommended, especially if not regularly officiating.
Prerequisites:
- None.
- Excellent familiarity with a swim meet from an audience perspective would be a distinct advantage.
- Previous pool deck officiating experience in other roles, although not required, would be an advantage.
Study tips:
- You can access this course via a computer, tablet or smartphone. Headphones are recommended.
- We recommend that this course is studied one lesson at a time, followed by a break. A mixture of video study, reading the notes, practical experience, and discussions with a mentor, is the best learning environment. You may log off, and return later to continue study from where you left off.
- Certificates may be printed on an attached computer or retrieved later for printing or saving.
Other things to know:
- Before working at a meet, you must have Working With Children clearance. It is easy to apply for online here, valid for 5 years, and free for volunteers.
- Officials should be members of a Swimming Australia club. The non-swimmer category is recommended. Apply via your club registrar.
Number of successful students:
