Georgia Swimming
Level 4

The Columbus Aquatic Club is fortunate that we have one of the best aquatic facilities in the state right here in our own home town and are able to host numerous home meets throughout the season.  Hosting our own meets offers us not just the possibility of generating revenue through meet fees paid by visiting teams, but it reduces the amount of travel our team has to do to gain competition experience. Plus,  Our swimmers report that there's nothing better than swimming in your home pool, when you're well-rested after sleeping in your own bed!  For busy families, home meets also help ensure we're able to juggle the many demands of our family schedules by staying here in town! 

To make our meets successful, we need YOUR support.  As a member-owned, non-profit club, members are expected to contribute to club operations through volunteering as Board Members, USA Swimming Officials, and Meet Volunteers.  While we have chosen not to establisn minimum required volunteer hours, we do ask that families serve at least one volunteer role for each meet their swimmer participates in. The vast majority of our meet volunteer roles are easy to learn, and require no experience.  Volunteer slots are build several weeks out from a meet to ensure parents have adequate time to plan and shifts are generally between 2 and 4 hours, depending on meet run times.  We do all we can to make the meet run smoothly and to help our volunteers feel comfortable steeping in to a job.  Below are descriptions of the Meet Volunteer roles as well as USA Swiming Officials and Board Members.  We're also more than happy to help with any questions you may have! Reach out to Jennifer_ladson@swimhurricanes.com about Meet Volunteer roles and Jennifer_Herbek@swimhurricanes.com about volunteering in other roles.

Meet Volunteers:

Bullpen:  The volunteers in the bullpen work in teams to organize new swimmers and experienced swimmers under the age of 10.  They will assist swimmers in getting to the correct lane for the correct event and heat.
 
Clean up Crew:  Assist CAC staff and coaches to take down tables, chairs and the hospitality room; put things away as needed.  Note: the CAC staff does much of the actual clean-up.
 
Hospitality Coordinator:  The Hospitality Coordinator(s) will set up and keep organized the kitchen/conference area so that coaches, officials, and volunteers can find breakfast, snacks, lunch, and beverages. They will also bring water out to the pool deck for other volunteers. If you like air conditioning, this job is for you!  Side note: you can always leave the hospitality area to watch when it's your swimmer's turn! If you have small children that must tag along, they are welcome to sit with you in the hospitality room. 
 
Hospitality Set up:  Come early for the first session of the day and help set up the hospitality room as well as bring coolers on deck for volunteers and officials. 
 
Meet Marshal:  We need both a male and a female meet marshal for meets, and this does require reviewing a brief training slideshow and completing a test through USA Swimming. The meet marshals help to maintain safety for swimmers on deck and in the locker rooms during the event. The slideshow is located here. To take the test, login to your USA Swimming account, click on Educationmenu in the upper left, select Course Catalog and click the round Parents/Volunteer button. Scroll down to the Meet Marshal Exam and email your certificate to jennifer_ladson@swimhurricanes.com when done. (Make sure you create/login with your own USA Swimming account, not a family member's when you complete the test.)
 
Timers:  We cannot start our meets without timers!  Timers stand at the end of their lanes and use a stopwatch to assist in recording a backup time (our facility does have touchpads for primary times during meets).  There will be a brief training for all timers prior to each meet.
 
Head Timer:  The Head Timer also starts two watches at the beginning of each race in case one of the lane timers needs assistance.
 
Volunteer Check-in: Prior to the meet, assist volunteers with sign in and assist visiting teams by directing parents and other spectators to the upstairs viewing area. Must be in place about 30 minutes before swimmer arrival, but you are also done shortly after the meet begins!  If you have small children, they are welcome to sit with you at the table for your shift.
 
Volunteer USA Swimming Officials:

Our meets require a full deck of USA Swimming Officials.  These roles do require training and can take a few weeks to complete, depending on your availability to attend meets.  Volunteering as a meet official does not mean you are volunteering to work every meet or every session.  The more robust of an officiating team we have, the more we can share the work! (Though some of us just really love being on deck and do work a lot of the meet!)  For info on volunteering as a meet official, see our Officials Page.

Board of Director Volunteers:

Our team is run by a volunteer Board of Directors, selected from within our membership through a nomination and election process. Board Members generally serve two years in their role, and handle various team support roles focusing on "off the pool deck" and behind the scenes activities.  We are always looking for those willing to serve on the Board or to offer their talents to the board especially those with a passion for event planning, social media content creation, photography, writing newsletters or a heart for encourating a practice group or new parents.  For more info on serving with the board or helping in a supporting role, email president@swimhurricanes.com.

Current Board Vacancy: Secretary