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.
The race is over, Phelps triggered the pad .01 before Cavic. The photos conclusively show Phelps hand on the touchpad - look at the angle of his hand - where Cavic does not show the same hand angle. And, like shots in tennis there looks to be daylight between his fingers and the pad. Camera angles are tough, but Phelp's camera angle is the same as Cavics and his hand has squarely hit the pad. Does anyone remember if they had back up timers on the deck in Bejing? If so - and I would imagine there were - what if anything did that show on the time?
Did Cavic touch the pad first and not set it off? - then why is it only a .01 difference, it would seem that the time difference would be longer. As somone said - for a 200 pound adult swimmer - even on a glide - the pad would most certainly trigger at that impact. Touch pads are not perfect but if Cavic was to have won that 2008 race the same way Phelps won the Rome 2009 race, and the pads malfunctioned the controversy is non-existent.
Before touchpads, the place judge called the order of finish which overruled the hand held analog stopwatches. I know an NCAA All-American who won a 50 free and admitted he never touch the wall, Were some people ever taught, especially on relays, to make a big splash at the end of their leg - masking the touch/takeoff on a relay. I know swimmers in dual meets that would , especially in close races with no touch pads (I know a long time ago) essentially actually jerk back, as though they had touched and "bounced" back from the wall. If they touched first or not, or if they won any races with the tactic I don't know. It seems awfully stupid to try that it if you are that close. - it would be too close to call, but I would guess they were relying on that action to trigger the timers response. We all thought Cavic had won and if we were hand timing, I bet that the stopwatch would have had Cavic winning based on the anticipation of the timers (just human nature).
Then again why stop at the second digit beyond the decimal - why not go 3 or 4 digits. Ties are so messy.
The race is over, Phelps triggered the pad .01 before Cavic. The photos conclusively show Phelps hand on the touchpad - look at the angle of his hand - where Cavic does not show the same hand angle. And, like shots in tennis there looks to be daylight between his fingers and the pad. Camera angles are tough, but Phelp's camera angle is the same as Cavics and his hand has squarely hit the pad. Does anyone remember if they had back up timers on the deck in Bejing? If so - and I would imagine there were - what if anything did that show on the time?
Did Cavic touch the pad first and not set it off? - then why is it only a .01 difference, it would seem that the time difference would be longer. As somone said - for a 200 pound adult swimmer - even on a glide - the pad would most certainly trigger at that impact. Touch pads are not perfect but if Cavic was to have won that 2008 race the same way Phelps won the Rome 2009 race, and the pads malfunctioned the controversy is non-existent.
Before touchpads, the place judge called the order of finish which overruled the hand held analog stopwatches. I know an NCAA All-American who won a 50 free and admitted he never touch the wall, Were some people ever taught, especially on relays, to make a big splash at the end of their leg - masking the touch/takeoff on a relay. I know swimmers in dual meets that would , especially in close races with no touch pads (I know a long time ago) essentially actually jerk back, as though they had touched and "bounced" back from the wall. If they touched first or not, or if they won any races with the tactic I don't know. It seems awfully stupid to try that it if you are that close. - it would be too close to call, but I would guess they were relying on that action to trigger the timers response. We all thought Cavic had won and if we were hand timing, I bet that the stopwatch would have had Cavic winning based on the anticipation of the timers (just human nature).
Then again why stop at the second digit beyond the decimal - why not go 3 or 4 digits. Ties are so messy.
