Pushbuttons

A backup pushbutton is a hand-held button a timer presses at the finish to record a swimmer’s time. Standing behind a lane, the timer holds the button and presses it as the swimmer touches the wall, which sends a stop signal to that lane’s clock on the timing console. The pushbutton is the human-operated backup to the touchpad: the pad records the official time automatically, and the button is an independent check that can stand in when the pad is missed or faults. It is nicknamed a “pickle” for its shape.¹²

Backup and semi-automatic timing¶

Competition timing is layered so no single failure decides a race. Under USA Swimming rules the automatic touchpad is the primary timer, backup pushbuttons are the secondary timer, and stopwatches are the tertiary timer, and every automatic or semi-automatic system must be backed up.¹³ In fully automatic officiating the buttons wait in reserve behind the pad; in semi-automatic operation the buttons are the timing input, started by the electronic start and stopped by the timer’s press.¹ Each lane can carry one, two, or three buttons, designated A, B, and C, each read independently of the pad.⁴ Because a person reacts to the finish rather than the finish triggering the device, a button time carries the timer’s reaction delay and is treated as a check on the pad, not its equal.⁵

Governing-body requirements¶

World Aquatics facilities rules treat the touch panels as the automatic officiating equipment and require independent backup so a result can still be established if a pad is missed.⁶ How button times resolve into an official time is set by the governing body rather than the hardware: the USA Swimming timing-adjustment rule keeps the pad time as official when the automatic equipment works, and uses the backup button and watch times when a pad malfunction is confirmed.¹ The published guidance to that rule states that where three buttons are used and two of the three agree, that time is taken, and that when the backup times differ from the pad time by 0.29 seconds or less the pad time still stands.¹³ These specific thresholds are USA Swimming’s. Because the procedures and thresholds differ between bodies, a meet follows the rules of its sanctioning organization.

Products¶

Colorado Time Systems (CTS) and Daktronics each make the wired backup pushbutton used with their swim-timing systems. This section catalogs both buttons; Daktronics states that the two makers’ buttons are cross-compatible, so either can be used on either maker’s lane wiring.⁷

Product	Manufacturer	Cord	Connection	Status
Colorado Time Systems Pushbutton	Colorado Time Systems	6 ft	Banana plug into deck plate or cable harness	Current
Daktronics Pushbutton	Daktronics	Not published	Banana plug into lane module or deck plate	Supplied with deck-cabling systems

Each article covers its button in full, its role in the timing layers, how a timer uses it, how it connects, and its care; this page is the shared overview they refer back to.

See also¶

• Touchpads: the primary lane input the pushbutton backs up
• Timers: the timing console a pushbutton reports to
• Start systems: the starter equipment on the other side of the timing system
• Equipment: the equipment reference
• Colorado Time Systems: the manufacturer

References¶

Footnotes¶

1. USA Swimming, Quick Guide to the Timing Adjustment Rule (102.24) (pad time is the official time when the automatic equipment works; primary/secondary/tertiary layers; backup times used on a confirmed malfunction). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

2. Colorado Time Systems, Backup button (PB-6) (the swim timing “pickle”). ↩

3. SwimSwam, New USA Swimming Timing Malfunction Rules Take Effect (independent coverage of the primary/secondary/tertiary timing hierarchy). ↩ ↩²

4. Colorado Time Systems, Titanium Deckplate (TDP) (plug-in connections for touchpads and A/B/C backup pushbuttons). ↩

5. Wikipedia, Aquatic timing system (touchpads as primary timing with backup buttons and stopwatches). ↩

6. World Aquatics, Facilities Rules 2021–2025, FR 2.3 Automatic Officiating Equipment for Swimming. ↩

7. Daktronics, Are Daktronics and Colorado Timing System push buttons cross compatible? (KB DD2017009). ↩