Aquatic timing system
Encyclopedia
Timing
Timing is the time when something happens or the spacing of events in time. Some typical uses are:* The act of measuring the elapsed time of something or someone, often at athletic events such as swimming or running, where participants are timed with a device such as a stopwatch...
, judging, and scoring in competitive swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
and other aquatic sports, including diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
, water polo
Water polo
Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...
, and synchronised swimming. These systems are also used in the training
Training
The term training refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relate to specific useful competencies. It forms the core of apprenticeships and provides the backbone of content at institutes of...
of athletes, and many add-on products have been developed to assist with the training process.
Manufacturers
Companies that currently manufacture aquatic timing and systems include Colorado Time SystemsColorado Time Systems
Colorado Time Systems is an American company based in Loveland, Colorado that designs, manufactures, sells, and services aquatic timing systems, scoreboards, LED video displays, and related products.-History:...
, Daktronics
Daktronics
Daktronics is an American company based in Brookings, South Dakota that designs, manufactures, sells, and services video board, scoreboards, digital billboards and related products. The company is best known for its electronic LED displays...
, Omega/Swiss Timing, ALGE Timing, International Sports Timing, and Take Your Mark Timing Systems.
History
Prior to the 1950s, competitive swimmers relied on the sound of a starting pistol to start their racesRacing
A sport race is a competition of speed, against an objective criterion, usually a clock or to a specific point. The competitors in a race try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time...
and mechanical
Mechanical watch
A mechanical watch is a watch that uses a mechanical mechanism to measure the passage of time, as opposed to modern quartz watches which function electronically. It is driven by a spring which must be wound periodically...
stopwatch
Stopwatch
A stopwatch is a handheld timepiece designed to measure the amount of time elapsed from a particular time when activated to when the piece is deactivated. A large digital version of a stopwatch designed for viewing at a distance, as in a sports stadium, is called a stopclock.The timing functions...
es to record their times at the end of a race. Unfortunately, these analog watches could not record times accurately beyond one tenth
Tenth
Tenth can mean:* 10th, an ordinal number; as in the item in an order ten places from the beginning, following the ninth and preceding the eleventh.* 1/10, a fraction, one part of a unit divided equally into ten parts...
(0.1) of a second. The invention of automatic timing systems brought more accuracy and credibility to aquatic sports.