In Olympic swimming events, the winner is the first person to touch a pressure-sensitive wall at the end of the pool. How does this pad know that a person has touched it, rather than just registering the pressure of splashing water? If a swimmer just brushed it, would it fail to register their finish?I know that in the men's 100-metre butterfly event, the equipment was called into question when Michael Phelps of the US won his seventh gold medal of the games. How did officials know it had operated successfully?And finally, it's easy to judge the victor in a race taking place out of water - such as running - because a sensor beam can scan the finish line. But in the pool how can they ensure that all the wall pads are exactly in line at both ends of the pool? Are they aligned before water is added to the pool, and if so, how?
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