THE FIRST TOUCHPADS

Improving timekeeping for a new generation of athletes, OMEGA introduced the world’s first swimming Touchpads at the Pan-American games in 1967. The introduction of Touchpad technology dramatically increased the accuracy of swimming results, with swimmers able to stop the clock themselves.

Previously, judges had been required to look for the moment that each swimmer touched the wall. Inaccuracies and potential disputes were common as up to three judges per lane each had stopwatches and often recorded conflicting results. The Touchpads solved this problem and has been used in every summer Games since 1968.