Patent ID: 7821876

Claim:
An event timing system comprising: a start device in an area of a multi-contestant competitive swimming event which establishes a single authoritative start time upon activation by a starting official, runs a cycle timer beginning at the single authoritative start time, and which attempts to resynchronize a plurality of stop devices by wirelessly broadcasting within an area of the swimming pool a plurality of start messages; a plurality of stop devices within the area of the competitive swimming event, each of the contestants being assigned to a swim lane wherein two or more stop devices are assigned to each swim lane, each stop device being operated by a stop official, having a local stop timer synchronized or resynchronized to the single authoritative start time using a value from at least one of the start messages, and each stop device wirelessly transmitting a stop message responsive to operation of a stop trigger by a stop official, each stop message having a stop time parameter equal to a current value of a local stop timer upon stop trigger operation; and a control device within the area of the competitive swimming event which, responsive to receipt of the stop messages, produces a recording of one or more stop time parameters, wherein all of the recorded stop time parameters are synchronized or resynchronized to the single authoritative start time.