Aquatic timing systems are designed to automate the process of timing, judging, and scoring in competitive swimming and other aquatic sports, including diving, water polo, and synchronized swimming. [1] These systems are also used in the training of athletes, and many add-on products have been developed to assist with this process. [2] Some aquatic timing systems manufacturers include Colorado Time Systems, Swiss Timing (Omega), Daktronics and Seiko.
Prior to the 1950s, competitive swimmers relied on the sound of a starting pistol to start their races and mechanical stopwatches to record their times at the end of a race. A limitation of analog timekeeping was the technology's inability to reliably record times accurately below one tenth (0.1) of a second. [3] In 1967, the Omega company of Switzerland developed the first electronic timing system for swimming that attempted to coordinate the physical the recorded time. This new system placed contact pads (known as Touchpad) in each lane of the pool, calibrated in such a fashion that the incidental water movement of the competitors or wave action did not trigger the pad sensors; the pad was only activated by the touch of the swimmer at the end of the race. [4]
Meet Managers are programs created to automate the process of generating results and can be either downloadable or web applications. They are normally sold to clubs and can also be connected to the timing system to obtain timing information automatically. [5] Some meet manager developers include Active Hy-Tek, Geologix, SwimTopia, NBC Sports and Bigmidia.
The Aquatics events at the 2006 Commonwealth Games were held at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC) and were divided into 3 separate disciplines, with medals awarded in 54 events:
Daktronics is an American company based in Brookings, South Dakota that designs, manufactures, sells, and services video displays, scoreboards, digital billboards, dynamic message signs, sound systems, and related products. Founded in 1968 by two South Dakota State University professors, Daktronics grew from a provider of electronic voting systems for state legislatures to one of the world's largest suppliers of electronic displays. The name is a portmanteau of "Dakota" and "electronics".
Fully automatic time is a form of race timing in which the clock is automatically activated by the starting device, and the finish time is either automatically recorded, or timed by analysis of a photo finish. The system is commonly used in track and field as well as athletic performance testing, horse racing, dog racing, bicycle racing, rowing and auto racing. In these fields a photo finish is used. It is also used in competitive swimming, for which the swimmers themselves record a finish time by touching a touchpad at the end of a race. In order to verify the equipment, or in case of failure, a backup system is usually used in addition to FAT.
Yuliya Andreyevna Yefimova is a Russian competitive swimmer. She is the Russian national record holder in the 200 metre individual medley, 50 metre breaststroke, 100 metre breaststroke, and 200 metre breaststroke. After making her Olympic debut in 2008, she went on to win the bronze medal in the 200 metre breaststroke in 2012, and silver medals in the 100 metre and 200 metre breaststroke in 2016. She is a six-time World Champion, winning the 50 metre breaststroke in 2009 and 2013, the 100 metre breaststroke in 2015, and the 200 metre breaststroke in 2013, 2017, and 2019. She is also a former world record holder in the 50 metre breaststroke.
Rebecca Soni is an American former competition swimmer and breaststroke specialist who is a six-time Olympic medalist. She is a former world record-holder in the 100-meter breaststroke and the 200-meter breaststroke, and is the first woman to swim the 200-meter breaststroke in under 2 minutes 20 seconds. As a member of the U.S. national team, she held the world record in the 4×100-meter medley relay from 2012 to 2017.
Allison Rodgers Schmitt is an American competition swimmer who specializes in freestyle events. She is a four-time Olympian and a ten-time Olympic medalist.
Scott Tyler Clary is an American former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. In his Olympic debut at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Clary won gold in the 200-meter backstroke in Olympic record time. In total, he won sixteen medals in major international competitions: three gold, eight silver, and five bronze spanning the Summer Olympics, the FINA World Championships, the Pan Pacific Championships, and the Pan American Games.
Colorado Time Systems (CTS) is an American company based in Loveland, Colorado that designs, manufactures, sells, and services aquatic timing systems, scoreboards, LED video displays, and related products.
Melissa Franklin Johnson is an American former competition swimmer and five-time Olympic gold medalist. She formerly held the world record in the 200-meter backstroke. As a member of the U.S. national swim team, she also held the world records in the 4×100-meter medley relay.
Charles Houchin is an American former competition swimmer who has had his greatest international success in freestyle relay events. He earned a gold medal as a member of the winning United States team in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He is the CEO and founder of Swimmingly. The Swimmingly app can operate an entire swim meet from iPhones or Android devices.
David Edward Plummer is a retired American competition swimmer who specialized in backstroke events. He won bronze and gold medals at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
The swimming portion of the 2011 FINA World Championships was held July 24–31 at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China. Swimming is one of five aquatic disciplines at the championships.
The American team competed at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, China from July 16 to July 31. The United States topped the gold medal count in the competition with 17 golds and finished the competition with 32 total medals, behind China's 36. 16 of the 17 gold medals came from the swimming competition and one came from the open water swimming competition. Individually, Michael Phelps won the most overall medals in the competition with seven. Ryan Lochte won the most gold medals among the male competitors with five and finished the competition with six medals total.
Rikke Møller Pedersen is a Danish competitive swimmer specialising in breaststroke and from 2013 to 2021 world record holder in the 200 m breaststroke (2:19.11).
Lillia Camille King is an American swimmer who specializes in breaststroke. She currently represents the Cali Condors, a team that is part of the International Swimming League. At the 2016 Summer Olympics she won the gold medal in the 100 meter breaststroke competition and also won a gold medal in the 4x100 meter medley relay, in which she swam the breaststroke leg. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, King won a silver medal in the 4x100 meter medley relay for her efforts in the prelims, the silver medal in the 200 meter breaststroke, and the bronze medal in the 100 meter breaststroke. She is the current world record holder in the long course 100 meter breaststroke.
Switzerland competed at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary from 14 July to 30 July.
Ryan Hoffer is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in freestyle and butterfly events. He competes as part of the International Swimming League for the team DC Trident. Hoffer is currently the national age group record holder in the 100 yard freestyle for the boys 17-18 year old age group. He won two silver medals at the 2015 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in relay events.
Ellen Walshe is an Irish swimmer. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the 100 metre butterfly and the 200 metre individual medley. At the 2021 World Swimming Championships, she won the silver medal in the 400 metre individual medley. She was the first swimmer representing Ireland to win a medal higher than a bronze medal at a World Swimming Championships. Collegiately, she competes for the Tennessee Volunteers.