# Olympic Swimming Technology **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 26, 2000, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-swimming-technology/34663 "2000-09-26T21:32:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sdimbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdimbert/32/20204_2.png) [@sdimbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sdimbert)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-swimming-technology/34663/1 "2000-09-26T21:32:03Z")
How do they know who wins a swim race? I mean, they can tell, down to the _thousandths_ of a second, who came in first! Obviously, there are not 8 judges trying to figure out which racer comes in first… There must be a sensor on the wall, right? Anyone know how it works? ---
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-swimming-technology/34663/2 "2000-09-26T21:37:21Z")
There is a sensor on the wall. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-swimming-technology/34663/3 "2000-09-26T22:07:01Z")
To elaborate, there is a pressure-sensitive pad mounted on the finish wall. The timer is started by a sensor attached to the starter’s gun and terminates when the swimmer touches the wall. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-swimming-technology/34663/4 "2000-09-26T22:29:15Z")
The sensor in the wall at the end of the pool can measure to the thousandth of a second, but by the rules, races are timed only to the hundredth. And because of that, there was a tie in one of the races at the Atlanta games. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-swimming-technology/34663/5 "2000-09-26T22:55:23Z")
I don’t think any timed sport in the Olympics has hand timing or naked eye judging to see who finished first. Even the 10,000 meters is timed to the hundreth of a second. I imagine that the marathon is too, but it isn’t reported that way since it rarely has a finish that close. About the only Olympic sport that I know of that records its times to the thousandth is luge. ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-swimming-technology/34663/6 "2000-09-27T03:43:51Z")
As a former HS swimmer, I can testify that touch pads are not just used in the olympics, but in nearly all levels of competitive swimming. Every meet I ever swam in the YMCA, through high school used touch pads on the walls. My home pool (where the Ohio HS state championships were held every year) was nice because our display would show all 8 lanes’ times at the splits. Most small pools only have a 1 lane display, so they show the leader’s split. It’s very nice to swim, look up at the clock immediately following the race, and see the 1 next to your name. 🙂 Jman ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-swimming-technology/34663/7 "2000-09-27T04:16:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BobT \* > \*\*I don’t think any timed sport in the Olympics has hand timing or naked eye judging to see who finished first. Even the 10,000 meters is timed to the hundreth of a second. > > I imagine that the marathon is too, but it isn’t reported that way since it rarely has a finish that close. > > About the only Olympic sport that I know of that records its times to the thousandth is luge. \*\* And bobsled. And in the 1998 Olympics, there was a tie in bobsled for the gold medal, anyway. Italy and Canada shared the gold. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-swimming-technology/34663/8 "2000-09-27T04:31:27Z")
There was a tie in this olympics. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport/hi/english/olympics2000/swimming/newsid\_936000/936708.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport/hi/english/olympics2000/swimming/newsid_936000/936708.stm) ---
**Author:** ![Nimue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Nimue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nimue)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-swimming-technology/34663/9 "2000-09-27T17:24:46Z")
Just wanted to second what Jman said – I was a varsity swimmer throughout high school and we used touchpads as well. It would have been a nightmare without them!