Question about the olympics Swimmers!?

Question

when they reach the wall, do they have to press a button or somthing?

Answer 1

OMEGA's timekeepers at the event will be keeping a close eye on the performance of key components of the timekeeping system at the Water Cube: the starting blocks, which have built-in sensors linked to advanced false-start detection technology, and the famous OMEGA touch pads that allow each swimmer to record his or her official race time.

Each of the starting blocks is outfitted with a loudspeaker linked to the starter's pistol, so that each contestant hears the start signal at precisely the same time. The false-start detection system measures the swimmer's reaction time, which is defined as the interval between the sound of the starter's pistol and the swimmer's response. If the time measured is less than the minimum time required by humans to react to the start signal, the swimmer has "jumped the gun", and the timekeeper uses an acoustic signal to indicate a false start.

The famous OMEGA touch pads originated out of the need for an accurate system capable of delivering incontestable results - a need made most evident by an incident at the Rome 1960 Olympic Games, when the head judge overruled the timekeepers; his decision resulted in the controversial award of the Gold medal to a swimmer the timekeepers believed to have come in second. The debacle generated an intense development effort and search for technology that eventually resulted in the introduction of the now ubiquitous "touch pad" technology first tested by OMEGA at the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg in 1967. Prior to the development of OMEGA touch pads, finishing times in swimming competitions were measured with handheld stopwatches by 24 timekeepers, three of whom were assigned to each of the eight lanes. OMEGA touch pads made their Olympic Games debut at the Mexico 1968 Olympic Games. Reacting to very slight pressure from the swimmer's hand but not to the movement of the water, the pads allow swimmers to "stop the clock" with their own hands. The time thus registered automatically becomes the official race time for each swimmer.

OMEGA touch pads and starting blocks are part of an integrated timing system capable of recording times to the nearest 1/1000th of a second. However, because it is not possible to build swimming pools in which each lane is guaranteed to be precisely the same length, Olympic and World Records are still recorded to the nearest 1/100th of a second.

Here is the link to the people that do the sensors:

http://www.omegawatches.com/index.php?id...

Answer 2

My friend, there is a touch pad at each of the pool that is very touch sensitive. Each time a swimmer touches the pad, that swimmer's lane is recorded by the official time keep and we, the viewer see who touched the pad on the tv screen.

I hope this is helpful.

Good luck

Answer 3

There's a touch pad on that wall.

And they have cameras on all angles.

Phelps won fair and square(:

Answer 4

The black square on the wall is a touchpad.

Answer 5

The black square is the timing pad and they have to contact it in any manner

Answer 6

No from pics and videos I've seen, it doesn't look like it.