Deadline to complete J1 qualification extended

Volunteers training to become Swimming Technical Officials are to be given an extension to complete their course due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

As one of three home countries, Swim England adopted a new version of the Judge 1 course in January which had two distinctive elements – an online theory element followed by practical sessions.

Once the online theory element had been completed, candidates had 11 months from the date of the theory certificate to finish the practical training.

To ensure these who had already started the ‘old’ Judge 1 training were not disadvantaged, it was agreed candidates had until 31 July 2020 to complete all elements of the course.  Click here for details of the qualification format.

However, the Covid-19 lockdown is preventing people on the old and new course format from completing the qualifications.

The impact has been reviewed by the British Swimming Officials Group and the following guidance has been agreed by all home countries:

• Old style Judge 1 course – each individual will receive an extension equal to the number of months the sport is not operational plus an additional three months. The first aspect will be calculated from Friday 20 March, the date when pools were shut down.
• New style Judge 1 course – each individual will have 11 months from the date of their theory certificate with an additional extension equal to the length of the lockdown plus three months. The first aspect will be calculated from Friday 20 March, the date when pools were shut down.

Meanwhile, Swim England is encouraging people to consider starting their training for the Judge 1 course during the lockdown period.

Claire Coleman, Head of Volunteering & Pathways said: “We recognise that, during this lockdown, our membership is keen to continue their personal development and we would encourage anyone to complete the online theory element of Judge 1. This is a great opportunity to develop an understanding of the technical side of swimming.

“Anyone who completed the theory during lockdown will have 11 months from the point competition restarts to complete their practical elements.

“This start date will be determined by the Swimming Leadership Group in line with other decisions relevant to the return to competition.

“All new candidates will receive the logbook detailing their practical sessions once current restrictions have been lifted.”