SwimmingSA is indebted to all the volunteers who give up their time to make our sport what it is. Our Technical Officials are are integral part of our sport and today we would like to introduce to you Peter Ryan - Referee.
Many of you would have seen Peter on pool deck during recent years but how much do you really know about him? Here's Peter's story...........
Like most officials, I started officiating because my children were swimming. I started helping at our local club carnivals, feeling apprehensive and uncertain about what it was I was doing. Luckily shortly after this, the club organised a Technical Officials clinic which I attended. I was grateful to learn the rules and what the various roles entailed and in 2016, I became accredited as an Inspector of Turns.
I found that I enjoyed being an official as it was a great way to be involved and to be a part of the meet and not simply sit on the sidelines. It was not long before I volunteered to do something at every swim meet my children went to, even attending meets that my children were not competing at.
Over the next few years I sought out opportunities to learn more about swimming. I was offered the opportunity to attend the State Teams Championships in Canberra, one of the highlights of my officiating. This meet opened up to me the opportunity to meet officials from around the country and although I learned a lot, I realised that I knew quite a bit about officiating and I could use this knowledge to travel around the country and participate in more swim meets.
I have been appointed to swim meets in Victoria, Tasmania and the Northern Territory and always look forward to not only to working at the meets but also to catching up with friends. I was also appointed to the National Championships in Perth this year, but unfortunately it was cancelled due to the COVID 19.
I graduated to being a fully qualified Referee last year and was privileged to be offered some sessions at the South Australian LC State Championships, a meet at which many international and interstate swimmers took part. I look forward to swimming resuming when it is safe to do so, and to be able to continue to be a part of it.
