100m World Record is now 9.74 seconds
Rieti, Italy, 9 September 2007 - Asafa Powell of Jamaica set a new world men’s 100 metres record of 9.74sec, timed by Omega and beating his own record by 0.03sec. What made Powell's achievement more remarkable was the fact that he made the time in the heats, easing up in the final metres. He won the final in a time of 9.78.

Leeds Swimming and Diving Centre

Swiss Timing won the contract to supply the swim timing system at the new 50m pool built on the John Charles Centre for Sport site (formerly known as South Leeds Stadium). The new Pool replaces Leeds International Pool.

The system features a SIRIUS M20 amber LED display. The 7.4 m2 board can display 12 lines of 32 characters, each character being 140mm. It will be the largest of its kind in the UK.

Also featured is the OSB9 starting block, so successfully used at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. The OSB9 has been developed with a number of top swimmers to determine the optimum angle of attack of the platform and the best non-slip surface. Two additional start blocks with relay detection together with a powertime training program will aid coaches fine tune the swimmers starts.

The new equipment will complement the ARES control system which Leeds City Council already own. Swiss Timing has provided timing equipment to Leeds City Council continuously more than twenty years.

Stadium Park 50 Metre Swimming Pool

Sunderland City Council have chosen Swiss Timing to provide their new international sports venue with video display and timing systems for swimming, waterpolo and diving. The 10 lane pool has OSB9 starting blocks at both ends of the 50m pool, connected of course to Omega's Olympic Games swim timing system, Ares. The V20/10 Nova Display can switch between live video, full colour advertising, live timing and results using the powerful Galactica scoreboard control software.
Installation is starting soon, and the Park is due to open early in 2008.

Cardiff International Sports Village

The new 50 metre swimming pool at Cardiff's International Sports Village (ISV) is well on the way to completion before opening next year. Swiss Timing has already completed more than fifty percent of it's work, including an M20 Sirius display board and 20 FINA standard 240cm touchpads. There are also 20 intigrated flash starts, which allow swimmers with hearing difficulties to compete without any disadvantage.

Braintree's new 25 metre pool

Planned since 1999, the new 8 lane 25m pool at Freeport, Braintree will open this Autumn, complete with aSwiss Timing M15 Sirius display 128 pixels by 80 high, Ares Timing, OCP5 touchpads and a set of OSB9 start blocks.

Omega Electronics and Swiss Timing Merge

We are pleased to announce that the merger of Omega Electronics and Swiss Timing, both companies of The Swatch Group, have completed their merger to become known globally as Swiss Timing. These companies have been responsible for the majority of the major innovations and improvements in the field of Sports Timing for the last four decades.

Simon James, Brand Manager in the UK commented, "The merger of these two companies is a fantastic opportunity to combine Swiss Timings first hand experiences of providing timing and results at major events, including most recently the Torino Winter Olympics and Melbourne Commonwealth Games, with the design and manufacturing experience of Omega Electronics."

Swiss Timing in the UK will remain a division of Swatchgroup UK Ltd. All personal contact details will remain unchanged. Sales@ and Support@ will work for both domains for the foreseeable future.

The official press release from Swatch Group can be read here. (pdf)

Piccolo Scoreboard

Swiss Timing's popular Piccolo scoreboard has been updated to utilise the latest LED technologies, offering improved visibility in an amber LED. For more information visit the product page.