Swim England release series of free diving judge courses

Swim England will be hosting a number of diving Judge courses, free of charge, to support new officials coming into the sport.

It comes after November’s National Judge School at the London Aquatics Centre where six Swim England members qualified to become a Level 2 Judge.

The event, which was hosted by GLL and Swim England’s London Region, will allow those that have qualified to officiate at Swim England’s National Age Group Championships as well British National events.

Our congratulations go to Noah Williams (Dive London), Tommy Hawkins (Dive London), Elizabeth Powley (City of Leeds), Olivia Reeve (Beaumont Diving Club), Lexie Bushnell (Southend Diving), Robbie Hutchinson (Edinburgh Diving Club) for passing the course.

Sarah Barrow, the technical officials lead for the Swim England Diving Leadership Group, gave her compliments to all those that have got involved in the judging pathway.

She said: “It has been a great couple of years working with the upcoming judges in diving, I believe we now have a pathway locked in suited to the needs of the sport.

“Congratulations to those that candidates the passed the J1 course over the last year and to those that have put in the time to progress up to the J2 National Judge School, we have some great volunteers in diving and we are continuously adding to them through the judge pathway.”

Coming into 2023 Swim England are committed to helping all those that want to become a judge so are running a number of courses throughout the year.

Sign up for one of our courses

Therefore, the national governing body will be running three Level 1 Judge courses which gives volunteers and members the perfect opportunity to progress their journey and get more involved in the sport.

This course is aimed at those who wish to gain an initial understanding of World Aquatic’s diving rules and apply this within their club and regional events.

It will enable the participants to develop their knowledge of judging in diving and build on the basics they will have learned from completing the Introduction to Diving Judging resource which participants are encouraged to complete prior to attending.

Sarah, who is also a former Olympic diver and current FINA diving judge, will present the course to bring a mix of international experience and knowledge to those who are starting their journey.

As a judge 1 you can officiate at intra-club, inter-club, county and regional events. You can also be a judge at Swim England’s National Skills Finals once you gain either a years’ worth of experience or have been mentored by a Swim England appointed mentor when judging at four club or regional events.

The courses are free of charge with the first of the three being run on Tuesday 7 March before two further dates later in the year on Tuesday 6 June and Thursday 21 September.

The sessions are available for those aged 16 or older and will be run on zoom. You can now register your interest to join the course.

Should the course become full, a waitlist system will be in place. Existing waitlist candidates will not need to re-register as they will be contacted individually.

Swim England will also be hosting a Level 2 Judge course in the autumn at the John Charles Centre for Sport in Leeds.

The date has yet to be confirmed but you can now register your interest in this course here to keep up to date with any further information.