Unsolved question about Phelps Gold?

[observer2]

Interesting.Who won?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 037AAQrcHv

[guru]

Sigh......

[observer2]

still a question?

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/Sa ... vic533.jpg
(Phelps to the left on that pics)

who wins: the one who first touches with his fingertips, or the one (Phelps) who first can put a pressure of more than 6 pounds to stop the watch?

msnbc: " Rowdy Gaines (who will be with us tonight) says the Omega timing people actually think it’s possible it came down to the amount of pressure Phelps put on the touch-pad at the finish -- an incredible quirk of science and timin".

http://www.omegawatches.com/index.php?id=112

[guru]

still a question?

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/Sa ... vic533.jpg
(Phelps to the left on that pics)

No.

That picture has two major deficiencies. One, it's a fish-eye lens. But most importantly, unlike the SI photo, it is not looking straight up from the wall, which is the only accurate way to tell in a race seperated by .01.

[observer2]

Have Omega released their pics yet? The interesting part in my view is if the amount of pressure a swimmer puts on the touch-pad can decide who´s the winner. Is that acceptable?
You could compare that with other sports.

msnbc: " Rowdy Gaines (who will be with us tonight) says the Omega timing people actually think it’s possible it came down to the amount of pressure Phelps put on the touch-pad at the finish -- an incredible quirk of science and timin".

[guru]

Have Omega released their pics yet?

Yes, though to me the SI photo is still the definitive view.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/sport ... ref=sports

And remember Serbia dropped their protest once they viewed the photos.

[El Toro]

Have Omega released their pics yet? The interesting part in my view is if it´s accepable that the amount of pressure can decide who´s the winner. Is that acceptable?
You could compare that with other sports.

How else are you going to do it reliably? I'm pretty sure that the FINA timing rules actually cover the reliance on the touchpads, so that's what you need to do to win - hit it hard.

Australian Glen Housman lost a world record in the 1500m back in 1990 for the same reason. Even though it was clear that he was well under, he did not activate the timing pad and missed out.

[observer2]

From my side it´s a pure technical question that I find interesting.
Is it acceptable that you don´t win, even when you touched the wall first?

(If Serbia don´t have a problem with that is of minor interest for my question)

[Marlow]

From my side it´s a pure technical question that I find interesting.
Is it acceptable that you don´t win, even when you touched the wall first?
(If Serbia don´t have a problem with that is of minor interest for my question)

from swimming's rule book:

.5 Determination of Official Time
A Automatic Timing — When recorded by properly operating automatic timing equipment, the pad time shall be the official time.

So, in fact, the winner is NOT who touches first; it's whoever depresses the touch-pad with enough pressure to record a time. That's the rule . . . period.

[observer2]

Ok, I have some good answer to my question and now I´m even more happy that I´m not into swimming (and never will be)
Thanks

[tandfman]

More on this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/sport ... helps.html

[eldrick]

More on this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/sport ... helps.html

More than a mere touch is required so that the force of the waves do not stop the clock prematurely

that shoud be sufficient explanation for any doubters