Officials Training
2026 Certified Officials List - Click Here
GKAISA Official's Certification Requirements and Procedure
GKAISA rules require that all persons serving as Referee, Starter, or Stroke & Turn Judge be certified by GKAISA in that position.
Certification Overview
Per the GKAISA General Rules; there are three levels of certification. All Officials must first be certified at the Stroke and Turn (ST) position. Once completed and with a full year of experience, an ST Official may become a Starter (SR). Following two years of certification at the ST position or one year of certification at ST and one year of certification at the SR position an Official may become a Deck Referee (DR).
For GKAISA Season 2026 all Officials with certifications from the previous process had expiration dates in 2025. All of those Officials will be required to re-certify for 2026. Recertification for the 2026 GKAISA swim season will follow the process below. If your certification expired last year you will need to go through the new process.
USA Swimming Reciprocity: As in years past, we will provide reciprocity between USA Swimming Certifications and GKAISA Certifications on an equal basis. If you are a USA Swimming Certified Official and your name does NOT appear on the Certified Officials list, please send an email to [email protected]. USA Swimming DRs and SRs are required to attend a GKAISA SR/DR clinic each year.
Stroke & Turn
GKAISA has moved to an online clinic and testing procedure for Stroke & Turn Officials.The new service is hosted on a website appropriately named strokeandturn.com. This online service is a resource for learning the rules of swimming. The online clinic will contain full explanations of the rules as well as video content to test the Official’s understanding and application of the rules. The service will remain available to the Official for one year following initial login. During that time the Official is able to review the information at any time and has access to a test, which must be passed at no lower than a score of 80%. The Official will have unlimited opportunities to take the test to reach the 80% requirement. Upon completion and successful testing the Official will retain the ability to return to the site to review the information and continue to learn. The certification will be valid for three years following completion at which time a recertification, consisting of the full clinic and test will be required. In order to obtain a license for the class please send an email requesting access to [email protected]. You will receive a numerical key granting you access to the clinic along with instructions to login and use the key.
- Upon completion of the course, no further action is needed as we will have league access to monitor all licensed activity for course progress and test completion.
Starter and Deck Referee
As no online service has yet been found or constructed, we will continue to hold clinics to train our Starters and Deck Referees as prescribed in the GKASIA General Rules.These clinics will be held online, at least twice per season on a schedule announced and posted to the GKAISA website.Upon successful completion of the clinic (suitable full clinic attendance) the Official will need to take the appropriate test linked below.
Starter and Deck Referee Clinics
- Please be prompt. Admittance will not be granted after 10 minutes following meeting start time.
Thursday, April 30th 2026 at 7:00PM
Login to Teams Meeting with this link Join the meeting now
Wednessday, May 13th 2026 at 7:00PM
Login to Teams Meeting with this link Join the meeting now
May 13th, 2026 SR/DR Clinic Recording - click here
Starter and Deck Referee Tests
Link to GKAISA Starters Test
https://forms.gle/bKz9iJFSveXDaPmcA
Link to GKAISA Deck Referee Test
https://forms.gle/n1GjEPCU5APMFuXp7
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Supporting Documentation
It is recommended that all GKAISA Deck Referees printout, refer to and carry with them the following handout for reference during all swim meets. This document also contains Professional Guidance for successful Stroke and Turn development as well as successful Starter Development.
GKAISA Technical Rules and Professional Guidance
You will need access to the current USA Rulebook to complete the Referee Test
2026 USA Swimming - Rulebook
Starter and Deck Referee Resources:
Starter and Deck Referee Clinic PowerPoint
Additional Resources from USA Swimming
- USA Swimming Stroke & Turn Training Videos - 2015 version
- USA Swimming S&T Officials Training Videos - 2007 version
