Anyone timing cannot help but feel the adrenaline and intensity that comes with the team atmosphere in a close race. With all of the teammates scrambling to cheer for the swimmers in the water. There is nothing quite like the feeling behind the blocks during a relay, or even a close race. Also, while timers aren’t exactly encouraged to show favoritism to your team, they are in the prime position to high-five your fellow club swimmers and even give you a chance to meet your child’s swim friends and rivals from other teams, letting you put a face with the names they talk so much about. The close proximity lets the timers see the intensity with each race, along with the emotions at the finish. Timers get a view into the world of swimming that can not be seen from the stands. There is really nothing better than the view from behind the blocks, as any swimmer will tell you. Whether a parent, athlete or just someone with an interest in swimming, the opportunity to be a timer comes with some awesome perks. Often a swim meet requires a team of two timers per lane, which provides three back up times for the swimmer aside from the touchpad time. Volunteering to be a timer is one of the easiest, and most important jobs at a swim meet. The computer also draws a vertical cursor down the leading edge of each runner's torso at the time the finish line was crossed.By Tori Caudill, Swimming World College Intern The images themselves are sent to a computer, which synchronizes them with the time clock and lays them side by side on a horizontal time scale, forming a complete image. The timing console sends the times to the judges' consoles and an electronic scoreboard. When the leading edge of each runner's torso crosses the line, the camera sends an electric signal to the timing console to record the time. They scan an image through a thin slit up to 2,000 times a second. Unlike the old film camera, these use digital recording technology. It records that "photo finish" we crave at a competitive Olympics. One serious improvement to Olympic timing technology that's used in many events is the Scan'O'Vision camera. As a runner crosses the line, the beam is blocked, and the electric eye sends a signal to the timing console to record the runner's time. It works by having the two photo cells (set at different heights to avoid only recording an arm movement) aligned with the finish line. It's also integrated with the timing system to avoid discrepancies.Īt the other end of the race, a laser is projected from one end of the finish line to the other, where a light sensor, also known as a photoelectric cell or electric eye, receives the beam. But no fear - the sound still mimics a pistol. Although it may look like a label maker, this starting gun is connected to speakers equidistant from every runner, to prevent a closer runner from hearing the starting gun even a millisecond before a runner farther from the gun. And the starting "gun" is less pistol-like than ever, since security is understandably squeamish about weapons at Olympic events. Therefore, every aspect of timekeeping is electronic, even the starting gun. In sprint races like the 100-meter dash, which can last less than 10 seconds, timing is of the essence. Because of the distinctions between these events - from distance considerations to weather concerns - the timing technology can vary greatly from sport to sport. We'll also check out the mechanics of determining split-second wins and false starts, as well as methods of instant scoring.Īs you're no doubt aware, the Olympic Games are held every two years, alternating between summer and winter athletic events. Because we're talking hundreds of events, we can only look at how Olympic officials time a handful of the really big ones in this article. (Seiko has held the title five times, most recently during the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games.) This title means the company provides technology and personnel for the timing of hundreds of events during the biennial competitions. Omega has been the official timekeeper of almost every Olympic Games.
Such accuracy requires first-rate technology, and as of 2014, only two companies in the world meet the standards of the Olympic Committee. Thanks to teeny variations in tracks and pools, however, events may only be timed to one-hundredth of a second (swimming) or one-thousandth of a second (track cycling). Courtesy of all that advanced timing technology, Olympic athletes can be measured at one-millionth of a second, or a microsecond - and note that it takes 300 to 400 microseconds for an eye to blink.
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