OMEGA is official TimekeeperThe 14th FINA World Championships
The 14th FINA World Championships are scheduled for July 16–31, 2011 in Shanghai, China at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. The 2011 World Championships will again feature the 5 aquatics disciplines: swimming, water polo, diving, open water swimming, and synchronized swimming. Portions of these championships will most likely serve as part of the qualifying for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
The Shanghai Oriental Sports Center where the competitions will take place is a newly-constructed facility located near the Huangpu River. It features indoor and outdoor pools each of which has seating areas for 5,000 spectators. OMEGA will bring its long experience in timekeeping and data handling to the Championships, ensuring the precision and performance worthy of the world's greatest aquatic athletes.
OMEGA has been at the forefront of international competitive swimming for many years and in addition to its timekeeping activities, is responsible for the development of some of the key technologies used to determine and record the results including the first semi-automatic timer for swimming events and the famous touchpads positioned at both ends of the pool lanes.
The touch pads – which are not affected by the impact of water against them – allow each swimmer to “stop the clock” by exerting pressure equal to or greater than 3 kg (6.6 lbs) on the underwater panels at the ends of each lane of the pool. The final moments of the swimming competitions are also recorded by means of OMEGA’s high speed video cameras, providing an added resource for judges in the event of disputes.
For the diving competitions, OMEGA is introducing some dramatic TV graphics to help viewers understand some of the unusual aspects of the discipline. Animated clips will demonstrate how the announced dive should be ideally executed from its beginning until the diver enters the water.
OMEGA will continue to use the other on-screen graphics that have been part of televised swimming competitions since 2000, including the “virtual record line”. This allows viewers to see a line on their screens which moves at the rate that matches the world record. If the winner finishes the race ahead of the line, it means a new world record has been set. OMEGA boasts an exclusive team of spokespersons from the world of swimming, including names that have shaped the history of this sport, such as Michael Phelps and former champion Alexander Popov.
The FINA World Championships have been held since 1973. Between 1978 and 1998, they were held every four years, in the even years between summer Olympic Games. Since 2001, the Championships have taken place every two years in odd-numbered years.