What is this kind of stopwatch called?

[Mahaloth]

I must be the densest person on the planet sometimes. I am a track coach and want to buy a certain kind of stop watch.

Instead of “split” times, I want one that will simply report the full times every time I push the button, making a little list. I want to be able to click the button three times very quick(measuring a sprinting finish) and have three times listed there. Not the split differences, the actual times in a little list.

My former co-coach had one, but he can’t seem to remember any details about it at all.

What kind of stopwatch is this?

[running_coach]

Do you mean the individual lap times rather than the total running time at each checkpoint?

13.11, .07, .08. Add each fraction to first time.
Or.
13.11, 13.18, 13.25

Having coached track, trying to get three times in a sprint race like that won’t work.

[Mahaloth]

@running_coach

13.11, 13.18, 13.25
.

This one. I want a watch that would list that if I pressed it three times.

[TroutMan]

You want split times. Lap times are the individual times it takes in between clicks (rc’s first example), and splits are the total time up to that point (rc’s second example). Most nicer stopwatches will show both.

But as running coach says, it can be tough to time multiple runners in a sprint with one watch - you just can’t push the button fast enough. It might work in the 1500, but not the 100.

[running_coach]

@Mahaloth

This one. I want a watch that would list that if I pressed it three times.

My Timex Ironman actually displays both, cumulative on top, individual on the bottom.

You’ll need to check out each watch individually to see how it’s handled.
Get a hand-held. There’s no way you can operate a wristwatch that fast.

What age group and race distances? Is this “serious” competition or city recreation dept. level?

[running_coach]

It should also specify that it has (xx) laps memory.
Example.

[Mahaloth]

@running_coach

What age group and race distances? Is this “serious” competition or city recreation dept. level?

Middle school track. It means a lot to the kids, but is not serious.

I rely on my timers, but want to try to time the first three places myself each time just in case we have a timing failure.

So Splits is right? When I push split on most of my stop watch, it stops to show me the current time, then resumes running when I push it again.

Split memory means it stores the times? I need one that can store at least 3-5 times.

[running_coach]

@Mahaloth

Middle school track. It means a lot to the kids, but is not serious.

I rely on my timers, but want to try to time the first three places myself each time just in case we have a timing failure.

So Splits is right? When I push split on most of my stop watch, it stops to show me the current time, then resumes running when I push it again.

Split memory means it stores the times? I need one that can store at least 3-5 times.

It would be far better to have an extra timer for each of the first three places if you have the bodies(and watches).

Split/lap memory means it stores the times.
It should store both cumulative and lap times.

On my wristwatch, the display looks like this:

13.41
13.41

13.49
.08

13.89
.40

(each set is a single display as you advance through the saved times)

[running_coach]

Don’t worry about terminology-laps and splits are the same thing in terms of taking times.
My watch says it has a 30 lap memory but the button is labeled split.

[Mahaloth]

@running_coach

It would be far better to have an extra timer for each of the first three places if you have the bodies(and watches).
)

I don’t have the bodies that can handle it. Our team is 115 athletes and so are some other teams. It’s a mess at meets and I just want to try to time the top 3 myself in addition to the others doing timing.

Is the button to look at times typically called “recall”? I’m tempted to go through my watches I have and see if I have one. If not, I will order one.

[don_t_ask]

If you have an iPhone there is: SprintTimer - Photo Finish

SprintTimer is a unique sports timer and photo finish app that employs the same techniques as the fully automatic timing equipment used at the Olympics. Start the timer and point the camera towards the finish line. The app creates an image where you can scroll to get the time for each competitor with a 0.01 s accuracy. SprintTimer also includes a motion activated Video Finish for longer races and a Start Sender for wirelessly controlling SprintTimer from another device.

SprintTimer is used by coaches, teachers and athletes all over the world for practice and competition in, for example, track & field, cycling, skiing, speed skating, car racing, rowing, kayaking, horses or greyhound racing.

[running_coach]

@Mahaloth

I don’t have the bodies that can handle it. Our team is 115 athletes and so are some other teams. It’s a mess at meets and I just want to try to time the top 3 myself in addition to the others doing timing.

Is the button to look at times typically called “recall”? I’m tempted to go through my watches I have and see if I have one. If not, I will order one.

Recall should be it.
Can you recruit other coaches, parents, innocent bystanders?
Even the older/more responsible kids can work.

Are you the head coach?

[Mahaloth]

@running_coach

Recall should be it.
Can you recruit other coaches, parents, innocent bystanders?
Even the older/more responsible kids can work.

Are you the head coach?

Yes, head coach. We’ve been through this and just had a terrible time over the past years to get the timing managed at our meets.

[running_coach]

As head coach, you should be more a manager of the meet than a worker.

How many watches and timers do you usually have? How many lanes do you run for sprint races?
Are there field events being contested?

ETA: Do you have assistant coaches?

[Mahaloth]

@running_coach

As head coach, you should be more a manager of the meet than a worker.

How many watches and timers do you usually have? How many lanes do you run for sprint races?
Are there field events being contested?

ETA: Do you have assistant coaches?

6 lanes usually, three athletes from each team(dual meets only).

I have assistant coaches. There are four of us total.

Field is happening at the same time and takes up Varsity coaches and some assistant coaches.

Even worse, our Athletic Director rushes our meets incredibly, barely giving us time to reset timers and deliver times to the athletes. I struggle to keep score because he rushes it so much, making it very hard. I have no recourse in this area. Other teams complain about his rushing our meets and I apologize on my school’s behalf.

It’s a hard situation. It’s very stressful.

[running_coach]

The AD shouldn’t be running the meet. Do you know why he’s in such a rush?

Is there a high school nearby or that your school is associated with? The high school I coached at would help the middle school with their meets. In our case, the most responsible athletes ran the field events.

Is the AD acting as the starter? The starter must allow the timers to be ready, not the other way around.
However, look at your finish line. Is it taking an inordinate amount of time to clear each race?

You should not be timing and keeping score. Do you use heat sheets/result sheets? You need one person to record results and another person scoring.

I have to go run some errands. Be back in a couple of hours.

[mcgato]

This site has some stopwatches that print out the times, some that have one clock, and multiple push buttons so that multiple people can time each lane. I’m not sure how much you are willing to spend on the timers though.

When I was in high school, I helped with the junior high meets. I was clerk of course, and we had 8 others who had manual stop watches. Each timed a lane. We had to adjust the times, though, in order to match the actual places. Wouldn’t look good if 3rd place had a faster time than 2nd, which could happen with our inexperienced timers. It worked well enough.

[TroutMan]

<tangent> I help out at middle school track meets and I can appreciate the OP’s difficulties. There’s the way you want to run meets, and then there is the way you are forced to run them. We have to keep things moving quickly before we run out of daylight, especially for the first month. It’s the first time in organized races for a lot of these kids, so they need instructions at the start line, at the finish line, and sometimes in the middle (“Keep going! One more lap!”), so things take longer than they should. The high school coach and team have practice at the same time and aren’t available to help.

But running coach is right that it’s just too much for a coach and a few assistants to do. We probably have at least 20 parents helping every meet. We’ll have at least four at the finish, each responsible for timing no more than two kids. If you can get more parents to help, you can spend more time coaching. Good luck.

[running_coach]

@TroutMan

<tangent> I help out at middle school track meets and I can appreciate the OP’s difficulties. There’s the way you want to run meets, and then there is the way you are forced to run them. We have to keep things moving quickly before we run out of daylight, especially for the first month. It’s the first time in organized races for a lot of these kids, so they need instructions at the start line, at the finish line, and sometimes in the middle (“Keep going! One more lap!”), so things take longer than they should. The high school coach and team have practice at the same time and aren’t available to help.

But running coach is right that it’s just too much for a coach and a few assistants to do. We probably have at least 20 parents helping every meet. We’ll have at least four at the finish, each responsible for timing no more than two kids. If you can get more parents to help, you can spend more time coaching. Good luck.

Here’s a good outline of meet officials and their duties.
As you can see, there’s no multi-tasking.

[Mahaloth]

@running_coach

The AD shouldn’t be running the meet. Do you know why he’s in such a rush?

I know. I have worked before in a district where the AD did not even attend the MS meets and we were happy. Many times, we have said that we would prefer him not to come, but I believe the district requires it.

He wants to get out of there and rushes the whole thing.

He retires in a couple years and things will ease.