I searched and couldn't find this posted, but I could have missed it.
Anyways, its pretty interesting because the official basically says Cavic touched first, but didn't "push" and slid, while Phelps pushed with force, etc etc. (He talks about this right at halfway through the video)
www.swimchampions.com/.../
Personally I think you have to live with however the time system works as long as it is functional. If it was functional and Cavic didn't press hard enough, its tough luck.
The only alternative is to just present a "tie" when you are within the margin of error of the equipment.
Good luck with that. I'd much rather rely on touchpads than the human eye when it comes to close finishes.
We wouldn't need to rely on the human eye--we could rely on high speed cameras. Perhaps for any finish less than .02 or something they should automatically go to the cameras. Sort of like replay cameras in other sports, the cameras would have to show irrefutable evidence of one swimmer touching first to overrule the timing system.
edit: The cameras would also need to be triggered to record one frame every .01 second since that's the agreed upon resolution for timing in swimming. You definitely wouldn't want to use the cameras to break ties, for example.
Good luck with that. I'd much rather rely on touchpads than the human eye when it comes to close finishes.
We wouldn't need to rely on the human eye--we could rely on high speed cameras. Perhaps for any finish less than .02 or something they should automatically go to the cameras. Sort of like replay cameras in other sports, the cameras would have to show irrefutable evidence of one swimmer touching first to overrule the timing system.
edit: The cameras would also need to be triggered to record one frame every .01 second since that's the agreed upon resolution for timing in swimming. You definitely wouldn't want to use the cameras to break ties, for example.
