Should race directors be paid?

At first glance, the job of a race director might seem pretty straightforward: pick a date, set up some buoys, and make sure no one drowns. But anyone who has ever organized a swim meet or open water event knows this couldn’t be further from the truth. Behind every moderately-smoothly executed race is a mountain of planning, sleepless nights, permitting hoops, safety concerns, and community coordination. But most race directors and event coordinators aren't compensated for running the event. So, in this article, I'm asking the question: Should race directors be paid for their work?

Many swim events are born from passion, competitive spirit, and/or a spark of adventure. Most of all, race directors want to give people a memorable experience of a challenging, fun, and inspiring accomplishment. That passion often comes with the assumption that the work should be voluntary. But when adding up the responsibilities of a race director that include logistics, budgeting, marketing, vendor coordination, safety planning, permitting, volunteer management, and dealing with everything from weather to swimmer injuries; the hours spent on race directing equate to a job, not a hobby.

One of the most important responsibilities of a race director is making sure that every swimmer that gets in the water also gets out of the water. This includes coordinating with marine patrols, hiring certified lifeguards or safety kayakers, securing insurance, creating contingency plans, and having a massive Emergency Action Plan to make sure all response protocols are in place.

Most race directors, especially first-time race directors, also spend dozens of hours securing the venue and event permits from local government agencies. Speaking from experience, the patience and time required to navigate the bureaucracy is substantial. And, on top of that, race directors sometimes have to foot the bill for some of the up front costs if there are no sponsors or host organizations.

Race director planning abilities and effort aside, almost all events I've ever participated in have been 100% volunteer-run, with event staff receiving little to no compensation. In some cases, reimbursements are made to cover the cost of running equipment, transportation, or parking, but wages are not paid. All of the staff volunteer because they care about bringing the experience to the participants.

One of the options swim event race directors have is for their event to be "sanctioned" by US Masters Swimming. I would guess that roughly 50% of all open water swimming events in the USA are sanctioned by USMS. The participants purchase USMS memberships and are, in return, the event is insured by the USMS underwriting company. USMS also provides some marketing support and material to their existing customer base. Each year, USMS searches for ultra-distance marathon swimming events to host the USMS National Distance Swimming Championships. This seems like a wonderful opportunity to offer community grants or "seed funding" to first-time event directors. USMS could provide resources and mentorship, as well as the up-front funds to start the event. The race director could reimburse USMS post-event, ensuring the permits and vendors can be booked in a timely manner without placing the burden of financing the entire event onto registration costs. This could also help make events more accessible to lower-income participants, with USMS providing funds for participant "scholarships" to reduce barriers of participation.

As a race co-director for a 100% volunteer-run Portland Bridge Swim, and previously the race director for the Clackamas Cove Swim (also 100% volunteer efforts), I'm torn between wanting at least a little compensation for the 100+ hours I spend on event planning/coordination and continuing to make this a community and volunteer-led event that is from the community, for the community. I'm curious to hear how other race directors and event participants feel. Feel free to comment or email us with your thoughts!