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.
I don't see how this reconciles with the photos of the finish taken from underwater. In the photos we can see Phelps touching the wall while Cavic has not. Unless Cavic somehow touched and rebounded it seems that Phelps touched first to me.
Unless the timing pad "malfunctions" - which there was no direct evidence of - the general rule has always been that you need to touch the pad and stop it. I have had coaches tell me from an 8 year old "age-grouper" on that you need to make certain you touch the pad weight adequate force (which honestly is not that much, even with the old school equipment). I honestly don't feel one bit bad for Cavic - he failed to do what almost every competitive swimmer learns from early on.
This is crazy. If a 6 year old that weighs 45 pounds can set off the timing pad doing some semblance of a stroke I find it hard to believe a full blown 200+ pound man moving at a high speed can't.
I also remember at the time that the Serbians filed a protest, but agreed that Phelps touched first after watching the video of the finish.
I actually thought it was Mike Bottom who filed the protest on Cavic's behalf. I'm going to be lazy and not look that up right now, though.
it was proper for Bottom to protest it, it was a questionable call, all the photos and videos I've seen were too close to call. Cavic was losing momentum & speed going into the wall with his long glide finish, he did lift his head & didn't SDK.
The touch pads need around 3 kg of pressure per square centimenter to trigger, it's entirely possible that cavic touched first or tied but didn't create enough pressure to trigger the pad.
Cavic needed to hit the wall better, one extra SDK off the turn or 3 or 4 short strokes to line up the final touch would have made all the diffence
Unless the timing pad "malfunctions" - which there was no direct evidence of - the general rule has always been that you need to touch the pad and stop it. I have had coaches tell me from an 8 year old "age-grouper" on that you need to make certain you touch the pad weight adequate force (which honestly is not that much, even with the old school equipment). I honestly don't feel one bit bad for Cavic - he failed to do what almost every competitive swimmer learns from early on.
Exactly. Why is this even an issue?
I'm with Ande on this one. The current generation of touch pads require a specific force level to be triggered. If it's the same for everyone (i.e all the pads are operating in identical manner) then the finish requirements are the same. Since the race is decided by times derived from the pads, then it doesn't matter when someone touches the wall, it matters when they trigger the pad.
A lot of discussion has occurred around the concept that Cavic's fingers contacted the wall first. Looking at all the photos and slow speed footage, I have absolutely no trouble believing that Cavic's fingers were in contact with the wall first.
But to quote Bill Murray: It just doesn't matter!!!!
In Olympic Swimming the winner is determined by the swimmer who triggers the electronic timing system first NOT who touches the wall first.
Even my 8 yo swimmers know to drive into the touch pad hard.
Get over it, so you touched the wall first? Other than you and your coach, who really cares, you didn't finish hard so you came up .01 seconds short.
And had ANOTHER chance to prove you were faster and didn't get it done.
Let it go, just let it go.
By the way, I'm not Kirk quoted in Warren's post.
Seems to me Mike Bottom agrees that Phelps touched first.
I've never seen a single still photo of video where Cavic appears to touch first. Show me that and then we can start discussing sensitivity of the touchpad.
So you guys are basically saying:
- The Omega representative is making the whole thing up to make Omega look bad ????
- Even if he touched the wall first, he did not deserve to win because he was gliding into the wall and had a poor finish and he is not American and his name is not Phelps
The reason for the timing system requiring 3 pounds is so that water splash will not cause the timing system to go off. Obviously he lost the race -- but I think his fingertips were at the wall first -- In the SI picture where they claim he did not touch wall - it seems that his right hand fingertips are actually at the wall.
They lost the protest, because the rules are clear - the timing system determines the winner - but if they were using track rules of a photo finish, we may have a different answer
Are you going to argue that every other swimmer in the world who has lost a (touchpad-timed) race by hundredths of a second might have actually "touched first" and, therefore, might have won? What is the point of this argument???
