THUNDER BAY – Ever since she returned from Paris a couple of weeks ago, Daryle Martin has been asked the same question.
What was the most memorable experience on the pool deck as one of the major technical officials for the swimming events at the 2024 Summer Olympics?
“I don’t think I can really pick out one thing,” Martin said. “It was all so spectacular and amazing.
“It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to attend the Olympics and it’s something that I’ve been working towards for over 22 years.”
Martin said the moment it really hit her that she was on swimming’s biggest stage occurred on the first day of the competition at the Paris La Défense Arena on July 27.
“I had the honour of leading the technical officials as the chief for that day and I said to myself ‘You know what, we’re at the Olympics. This is huge,’” Martin added.
She worked in a variety of roles on the deck during the nine days of competition.
“Everything was pretty laid out,” Martin said. “We’d have to meet an hour before each session to go through more meetings and briefings to make sure that we all knew what was going on.
“Then we went out and did our thing and at the end of each morning session, we would do a little debrief, then we’d decompress for the afternoon.
“Just like how the athletes take their time to rest and rejuvenate themselves, we did the same thing to make sure we were totally focused for the evening finals.”
There were no disqualifications or infractions that Martin had to call in any of her lanes during the meet, which also had underwater cameras to help the officials make calls.
While she’s worked at several international and national competitions in the past, the atmosphere at the Olympic Games was completely different from any other event that Martin has officiated.
“The crowd was just so loud when any of the French swimmers were announced, but they were supportive of all the different countries as well,” Martin said.
“Watching Summer McIntosh win her three gold medals and a silver was memorable, and we also had two Canadian males (Joshua Liendo and Ilya Kharun) on the podium for the butterfly, which was amazing to see.
“To be able to be there and hear the Canadian anthem being played when Summer was getting her gold medals was really special.”
Martin had a short opportunity to do some sightseeing in Paris as she and her fellow officials went to see the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower.
“We were also fortunate to see the women’s cycling road race, but that was only for a quick 10 seconds as the pack whizzed by us.”
The trip to Paris will be Martin’s lone Olympic officiating experience. Her tenure as an international official concludes later this year and a different Canadian official will be on deck at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
“I’ll still be very involved with swimming and officiating in Canada, especially as we’re planning for the national meets in the new year,” Martin said.
