Level 5

Requirements

A. Complete a minimum of one year of active service as a Level IV official;

B. Organize, conduct and/or supervise a minimum of two different Level II clinics within the year of application;

C. Work a minimum of two sessions at a Swimming Canada national competition in any position, after becoming a Level III official;

D. Obtain the approval of the Provincial Officials’ Chairperson or their delegate to be evaluated and have two successful evaluations as a Referee, or once as Referee and once as Starter, by a Level V official. It is recommended provinces maintain the mentoring process whereby Level IV officials continue to receive formal mentor assessment(s), by Level V officials, prior to request for evaluation;

E. Submit the completed Level V Official Certification Form to the Provincial Officials’ Chairperson.

If the Provincial Officials’ Chairperson is satisfied that the candidate has met all requirements, the candidate’s Level V Official Certification Form will be submitted to Swimming Canada for Officials, Competitions and Rules Committee (OCRC) approval. If the OCRC approves the candidate, they are then certified as a Level V Master Official. A congratulatory letter and Master Official certificate will be sent to the candidate with a copy forwarded to the Provincials Officials’ Chairperson.

Note: Completing the requirements for Level V (A, B, & C) may happen simultaneously or in any order.

SwimON Note: As of Septembe 2022 Level III certification requires the official to have taken the Para Swimming E-modules (available on the LMS) or the Para Swimming Domestic Clinic. It is therefore implied that current Level IV/V cadidates are also required to have taken the Para Swimming E-modules (available on the LMS) or the Para Swimming Domestic Clinic.

General Process

1. Candidates who have not already done so should declare their intent to seek a Level IV/V certification by e-mailing refevals@swimontario.com. This will allow candidates to take advantage of province wide Q&A sessions and other support during the certification process.
2. Candidates should review the clarifications below to assist them in meeting the requirements for their submission.
3. Candidates should submit their formal application directly to refevals@swimontario.com. The referee evaluations committee will review and validate the submission.
4. The committee will advise the ROR of the receipt of a valid submission and provide the ROR an opportunity to provide any additional feedback to the committee
5. The committee will then schedule the formal evaluation.
6. The candidate will receive the formal notice from Swim Ontario of their scheduled evaluation date.

Level V Submission Requirements

The following documentation must be submitted to the Referee Evaluation Sub-Committee and the candidates ROR.

• log of clinics conducted,
• log of meets and positions worked,
• 3 Successful Referee Assessments forms from 3 different Level 5 Mentor Referees one of which must be out-of region,
• Swim Ontario Level 5 certification form (parts A and B completed),
• Swimming Canada Level 5 certification form (contact information and Level 3 and 4 details completed)
  • How to complete the Level V certification forms

1. The clinics do not need to be supervised but they must be verifiable. Clinics conducted and recorded through the learning management system (LMS) are the most easily verified. Clinics conducted with manual paperwork should ensure that the paperwork was properly submitted to Swim Ontario by their COC/COA. Starting in the 2023/24 season the use of the LMS for clinics is mandatory.
2. The 2 sessions at a Swimming Canada national competition have no timeframe requirement and can be at any point after attaining Level III certification.
3. As part of the pandemic recovery period for the 2022/23 season the committee will accept an out-of-region referee assessment within 24 months of the date of application. Starting in the 2023/24 season the timing requirement will revert to within 12 months of application.
4. Candidates may request that one of their referee assessments be conducted out of province. This out of province assessment can also be used instead of an out of region assessment. All such requests must be pre-approved and candidates should contact the committee for further details.
5. Completion of the Para-Swimming LMS e-module or the Domestic Para-Swimming Clinic if not completed previously.
6. An out of region assessment must be conducted at a pool outside the candidate's home region and by an evaluator from outside of the candidate's home region.
7. Ontario independent officials are assigned to a home region even though they are not members of a specific club.  If candidates are not certain that an independent official would qualify as an out-of-region evaluator they can reach out to the committee for confirmation.

Level V Formal Evaluation

The Mentor Referee (Level V official) will help with preparing the candidate for their formal evaluation as a Referee and/or Starter, however, will not be assigned as evaluators for their formal evaluations unless no other evaluator is available.

A request for evaluation with supporting documents requires a minimum of 6 weeks to review, approve request and organize the evaluation.

One of the submitted successful referee assessment for Level V candidates must be from an out-of-region competition. Funding is available to Level V candidates seeking out-of-region experience.

The formal evaluation for Level V candidate requires them to work two sessions. The first session as a Referee and if successful the second evaluation can be either as a Referee or Starter and must have a combined minimum session length of over 5 hours with a variety of events offered.

These formal evaluations will be conducted by two Level V officials. The Level V evaluation will have at least one evaluator from out of region.

Once the formal evaluation is successful and completed,

• the ROR or evaluators will present the official with the recognition gift from Swim Ontario
• one of the evaluators must send the following documents to the Referee Evaluation Committee, POA and candidate
  • Level V certification form (completed and signed by evaluators)
  • Starter assessment form if a Starter evaluation was completed

Swim Ontario will recommend for approval any level V candidates to the Official Competition and Rules Committee (OCRC) who has final approval for all Level V certification. Swim Ontario will ensure the Swimming Canada Level V certification form is sent to Swimming Canada for review by the OCRC.

Once the national office certifies a candidate for Master Official certification, a congratulatory letter and Master Official certificate will be sent to the candidate from the national office. The provincial office will arrange for a suitable Level V pin presentation for the candidate. Successful Level IV and V candidates will receive a recognition gift from Swim Ontario.

Resources

• Referee Development Information Page
• Referee Assessment Form - 2024 version
• Swim Ontario Level V Certification Form
• Swimming Canada Level V certification form
• How to complete the Level V certification forms