This is something I have been thinking about since the Olympics... at what point will it not be possible for human beings to swim or run any faster. There has to be a point where the human body just can't go any faster, no matter how much you train, what kind of things you put into your body (legal or not), etc.
I mean it isn't possible to swim a 400 IM, for example, in 2 seconds (at least I don't think it ever will be) so where does it end? And when will that happen?
I think measuring to the hundredth might be too fine a measurement if you're looking at swims in different pools at different times, but you need to get that kind of precision sometimes to find out who won a particular heat. Heck, look at the men's 50 in Athens. The three medalists were within a tenth of a second. Now, we don't know exactly what distance each swimmer had to swim, but we can tell from video that Gary Hall, Jr. touched the wall first. If the timing only went to 0.1 second, there would have been a tie for first unless a judge's decision could be used.
I think measuring to the hundredth might be too fine a measurement if you're looking at swims in different pools at different times, but you need to get that kind of precision sometimes to find out who won a particular heat. Heck, look at the men's 50 in Athens. The three medalists were within a tenth of a second. Now, we don't know exactly what distance each swimmer had to swim, but we can tell from video that Gary Hall, Jr. touched the wall first. If the timing only went to 0.1 second, there would have been a tie for first unless a judge's decision could be used.
