Run the clerk of course desk without the paper
Virtual Clerk of Course handles scratches, check-ins and live event status at a swim meet — and puts the same live view in everyone's hand. The volunteers at the scratch table stop working from folders or binders of paper.
And nobody has to hover at the table waiting for news. Swimmers and parents are told — on their phone — when they've made finals or been scratched in. Nobody misses a finals swim because the word never reached them, and a swimmer can rest before their race instead of standing in the sun waiting to find out.
The problem it solves
The clerk of course table is an important part of a swim meet. Scratches are recorded on paper at the clerk of course table. A coach asks whether a swimmer checked in and someone walks the length of the deck to look. In Arizona, in July, the volunteers doing all of this are sitting outside in the heat with a stack of paper and a pen that has stopped working. The swimmers wait anxiously around the table to find out the prelim results or if they have been scratched in, when they could be resting before their finals race. Swimmers have to arrive hours ahead so that they can physically check-in at the table. Swimmers miss a chance at a finals swim because they didn't know they were scratched in.
None of that is a technology problem. It is a paperwork problem, and it lands on the people who volunteered to help.
What it does
At the scratch table
Scratches and intent-to-scratch come in from a phone, with a deadline window you set and an optional PIN. Requests arrive in a review queue instead of a shoebox, and every one is logged with who submitted it and when.
Positive check-in
Swimmers check in for an event, a session, or every event at once. Relay check-in records the swimmers by name. Prelim/final events get their own workflow, including a prelim swim request — a swimmer asking to swim, the opposite of a scratch. All configurable per meet.
For coaches
See your team's check-in status and scratch requests without walking to the desk. Psych sheets and heat sheets for the meet, on the phone already in your hand.
For parents
Follow a swimmer, see whether they're checked in, or have made finals and get a notification — in-app, push, or text. No account needed to look something up.
For the meet host
Live event status across every session, an announcer view, and results as they're entered. Finalize an event when it's done and the app checks the work first. Offering a seamless way for volunteers to hand off results for reading without leaving their chair.
Runs on a sheet you own
Your meet lives in a Google Sheet. Virtual Clerk of Course reads and writes that sheet — no new database, no migration, and nothing to unlearn if you stop using it.
Compared with the paper desk
| On the day | Paper | Virtual Clerk of Course |
|---|---|---|
| A swimmer scratches | A swimmer physically walks up to the clerk table, and writes a scratch on the event sheet. | Submitted from a phone, in the queue instantly |
| "Did my kid check in?" | Someone walks the deck to find out | Visible in the stands, on any phone |
| The scratch deadline | The volunteer is responsible for listening for the announcement, recording the time, and monitoring the clock for closure. | A window the meet sets, enforced by the app and notifications sent to the Clerks and Team. |
| Who submitted what | Handwritten, sometimes hard to decipher | Logged with name and timestamp, verification emails (if logged in) |
| Weather | Paper and pens, outdoors, in July | A phone in a pocket |
Your meet data stays yours
The meet lives in your club's own Google Sheet, in your club's Google account. You grant access, and you can revoke it at any time — the meet does not get copied into someone else's system, and it does not have to be shared publicly for the app to work.
That matters more in this sport than in most. A meet roster is a list of children with their names, ages and times on it. Event pages are excluded from search engines, and staff and owner contact details are never shown on any public page.
What it costs
One club pays. Everyone at the meet uses it free. Only the Meet Boss role — the person hosting the meet — is ever subscribed. Swimmers, parents, coaches, clerks, officials and announcers never pay anything and never need an account to look something up. See pricing for what it will cost once beta ends.
Who built it
Virtual Clerk of Course is built by Melissa — a swim mom who has worked the clerk of course desk and has also been the parent in the stands wondering whether her kid was checked in. It exists because the paper-and-pencil scratch table has had its day, and because the people running it deserve better than a clipboard in the sun.
It's made by OneNerdyCrafter LLC in Arizona. If you're running a meet and want to try it, get in touch — you'll get a real person who has worked the desk.