0.01 OF A SECOND?

August 16, 2008 3:47 PM

Michael Phelps - The Greatest Amphibian of All Times* So rejoice away my friends, and look forward to another manufactured spectacle brought to you by the masters of the global loop whose unwitting part you are.
posted by mr.marx (26 comments total)

Beat me by 1/60 of an hour.
posted by blue_beetle at 3:54 PM on August 16, 2008

I am sponsored by Omega.
posted by mr.marx at 3:55 PM on August 16, 2008

or is it one 1/600 of an hour, blue_beetle?
posted by Laotic at 3:56 PM on August 16, 2008

I didn't see the race; when I heard about the protest, Cavic's claim that he touched the wall first but the sensor didn't go off, I called bullshit. If the sensor didn't go off, how would he know? He'd have to press it again, surely, resulting in a much worse time.

Then I saw the video and photos, and I'm starting to have serious doubts.
posted by Jimbob at 3:57 PM on August 16, 2008

Here you can see it is clearly Phelps.
posted by plexi at 4:04 PM on August 16, 2008 [7 favorites]

Yeah, Cavic definitely appeared to hit the wall first. It's also true that Phelps hit it very closely after, and hit it with considerably more force.

My guess would be that it's not enough to touch the wall and that the pad or whatever has to be depressed a modest amount; Cavic didn't hit the wall strongly enough to depress it all the way until after Phelps had set the sensor off.
posted by Justinian at 4:04 PM on August 16, 2008

None of the evidence in that links appears to be definitive, unless I missing something. It looks like a dead heat to me, but I can't really see the difference in .01 of a second.

Honestly, I couldn't care one way or the other, which is why I won't probably look anymore (unless someone has the zomg evidence).

Finally, if you think this is just about one race in some stupid sport, think again.

I did, and I think this is just about one race in some sport. I won't call the sport stupid, though. It's as good as any other human-racing sport.

It does seem that the time-measurement mechanisms and technology should be open-source and transparent, however. This controversy is the sort of issue that open technology should be able to resolve fairly easily.
posted by mrgrimm at 4:04 PM on August 16, 2008

yet another ridiculous conspiracy theory.
posted by Flood at 4:06 PM on August 16, 2008

Thanks for the video, Plexi - that is the clearest one I have seen, and it convinces me that Phelps touched first.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 4:06 PM on August 16, 2008

Hmmm. That underneath angle definitely makes it look possible that Phelps hit the wall first, but I wouldn't say it's definitive. It's hard to tell exactly when Phelps' fingertips first brush the wall. But yeah, that's a good angle.
posted by Justinian at 4:07 PM on August 16, 2008

Here are even more underwater images (HD) that show Phelps hitting first.
posted by plexi at 4:07 PM on August 16, 2008 [3 favorites]

Yeah that video works for me; a dead heat, at least.
posted by Jimbob at 4:09 PM on August 16, 2008

Don't have a stroke, there, buddy. I don't have time for this shit. Not on my watch. Michael Phelps is a great swimmer, but he's not the Alpha and the Omega or anything, even if he is The Omega Man. This theory can't really make a big splash. It's all wet. The timing's wrong.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 4:10 PM on August 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

I guess the difference is, Cavic had finished his stroke and was gliding to the wall, Phelps used the end of this stroke to touch the wall.
posted by Jimbob at 4:10 PM on August 16, 2008

That underneath angle definitely makes it look possible that Phelps hit the wall first, but I wouldn't say it's definitive.

Well, to clarify: it looks good enough to my eyes (which are being distracted by the water, bubbles, fact that one swimmer is coming in on a downstroke and another from above or whatever you'd call that, the angle) that I can accept that the machine recorded that Phelps touched first and that officials confirmed it in a play-by-play sequence.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 4:11 PM on August 16, 2008

In any case, Cavic tried to glide in a whole body-length. He screwed up and would have won if he's gone another half-stroke like Phelps. So if it's a conspiracy (it isn't), Cavic was in on it 'cause the real reason Phelps won was Cavic's tactical error.
posted by Justinian at 4:12 PM on August 16, 2008

Oh Christ, really? Why post this to Metafilter?

Sports Illustrated has fantastic photos online. The freeze frame the stupid site links to is #4 in the series. The very next photo in that series shows Phelps touching the wall before Cavic. And if you're a skeptic, the next photo is a closeup of Cavic just missing. I'm sure this conspiracy is easily explained; no doubt Sports Illustrated's amphibian webmaster is having sex with the Omega CEO's sister and bragging about getting laid every day. Pretty soon theýll have a half-reptile baby and it'll be just like the season cliffhanger of V.

Much more interesting is Cavic's blog post titled "Success!!!" where he talks about losing the race by 0.01s. Class act.
posted by Nelson at 4:12 PM on August 16, 2008 [2 favorites]

plexi's video link shows how the "final photo finish freeze frame that speaks volumes" doesn't "speak volumes" about anything, other than "it's never over til it's over."

on previewing the SI underwater images: oh yeah, plexi wins. The Sports Illustrated slide show pretty clearly shreds 001ofasecond.com. But I suppose that won't stop them from serving up Google ads in two seconds ...

But of course, SI is also in on the conspiracy. Guess who is a major advertiser in SI? ... OMEGA!
posted by mrgrimm at 4:13 PM on August 16, 2008

Oh Christ, really? Why post this to Metafilter?

I'm not really your saviour, sorry, but I thought it was funny. Avast ye unfunny!
posted by mr.marx at 4:18 PM on August 16, 2008

EARTH HAS 4 CORNER
SIMULTANEOUS 4-DAY
TIME CUBE
IN ONLY 1 EARTH ROTATION.
4 Corner TIME, CUBES EARTH.
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:19 PM on August 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

pretty crazy rant to post on MeFi.
Questions, analysis, good.
Screaming "Conspiracy!," then ranting, not so cool.
posted by hooptycritter at 4:21 PM on August 16, 2008

"heavily favoritized to win this race"

They were in such a rush to get this site to press that they made up new words - cool!
posted by davidmsc at 4:25 PM on August 16, 2008

Wow -- just read Cavic's blog entry, and he is indeed a class act. Sportmanship - good to see.
posted by davidmsc at 4:27 PM on August 16, 2008

Mmmm ... now that's some tasty troll food!
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 4:28 PM on August 16, 2008

That's like having sex with your own sister and then bragging around that you get laid a lot

classy
posted by mattoxic at 4:31 PM on August 16, 2008

These guys train and study every aspect of the competition, including how the touchpad works. To me it looks like they touched the wall at the same time, but one of them hit the wall with enough force to set off the touch pad. That's part of the rules for the competition. At this level every element of it is very particular, which makes it a bit harder for lay people to fully comprehend the minutia. Very few people have any reason to pay attention to fractions of a second, but for Olympians it's a very real thing.

I can't imagine having a fraction of a second mean so much. But then again, I also can't imagine training for hour every day for years on end.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 4:33 PM on August 16, 2008