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Swim meet to conclude officiating clinic
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Posted on May 17 2012
A swimming meet at the Kan Pacific Swimming Pool will conclude the FINA Officiating Swim Clinic being conducted these past several days by Don Blew, vice chairman of the FINA Technical Committee.
Northern Mariana Islands Swimming Federation’s Carol-Lynn Calobong Pierce said the meet will be held today, May 18, and tomorrow, May 19, from 4pm to 6pm at the Marpi facility.
She said the sole purpose of the meet is for the on-the-deck training for “aquatic enthusiasts learning to officiate” who attended the clinic.
“Aquatic enthusiasts are getting a rare glimpse into the officiating procedures at the highest level. Mr. Blew travels the globe conducting technical swim clinics. He will be attending his 6th Olympic Games this summer assigning all technical officials for the London Olympics in competitive swimming,” said Calobong Pierce.
She added that a FINA Officiating Swim Clinic only occurs every decade on Saipan. Don West conducted the last session in the 1990s and Dennis Miller conducted a clinic in the 1980s.
The ongoing clinic covered the following topics: Introduction to Swimming officiating; Approach to being top swimming officials; Competition conduct; Stroke rules; and Duties of timekeepers, recorders, starter, judges of stroke, inspector of turns, finish judges, referee, and announcer.
It is open to any adult 18 years and older who is interested in aquatics in the Commonwealth.
FINA stands for Fédération Internationale de Natation and is the international federation recognized by the International Olympic Committee for administering international competition in the aquatic sports. Its name translated from French is “International Swimming Federation.
It is one of several international federations which administers a given sport/discipline for the IOC and/or international community. It is based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
FINA currently oversees competition in five aquatic sports: swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, water polo and open water swimming.
