Competitive swimming has come a long way since three timekeepers with handheld stopwatches crowded each of the eight lanes in major international events. OMEGA has  been behind the development of much of the equipment used to time the performances of the world’s great swimmers.

The association between Omega and swimming dates back to 1932 when the brand was first entrusted with the official timekeeping of all disciplines at the Olympic Games including swimming. The relationship is still going strong – Omega serves as official timekeeper at the world’s highest-profile swimming events and has also been responsible for the development of much of the most important equipment used to time competitive swimming.

A long-term partnerhsip
In addition its role as official FINA partner, timing the World Swimming Championships and the FINA World Cup, Omega is also the official timekeeper of the Ligue Européenne de Natation (LEN) European Aquatics championships and serves as official timekeeper at many important international swimming competitions, including, most famously, the Olympic Games.

OMEGA and the development of timekeeping equipment
Omega's unparalleled involvement in sports timing has led to a long list of innovations in the field of swimming timekeeping technology, including the Swim Eight-O-Matic Timer, the world's first semi-automatic swimming timer which was first used at the Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956, and the famous "touch pads" placed at each end of the pool for timekeeping at swimming events, introduced at the Pan-American games in Winnipeg in 1967 and used at the Olympic Games a year later.

OMEGA, who also developed the starting blocks used in international sporting competition, has determined a way to make the start blocks even better: a patented, adjustable slanted footrest allows swimmers to use a crouch start with the rear-positioned leg at a 90° angle at the knee, generating an optimal starting profile – the power input a swimmer generates against the block from the starting signal to the time he/she leaves the block.
Tests carried out in the trial period demonstrated that the new start blocks lead to measurably faster times and swimmers involved in their testing have been enthusiastic. OMEGA’s developers look forward to seeing competitors achieve new personal bests and challenging existing records.

Swimming results on the internet
More recently, Omega spearheaded the move to bring results to the internet, launching live timing in 2000. The system allows swimming fans all over the world to call up results in real time via the internet from the www.omegatiming.com site.
OMEGA'S CRITICAL ROLE
Omega's contributions are vital, particularly in view of the increasingly keen level of competition. For example, at the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008, only a hundredth of a second separated gold medallist Michael Phelps and silver medallist Milorad Cavic in the men's 100-metre butterfly. OMEGA Timing's high-speed video cameras confirmed that the results recorded by the company's electronic system had been absolutely perfect.
What accuracy.