Phone swim timing: one synced stopwatch, every lane.
EasyMeet turns the phones already on pool deck into a synchronised stopwatch app. Every lane starts on the same instant and finishes get locked in the moment a timer taps, no separate stopwatches needed.
A stopwatch in each timer's hand has always had the same problem: everyone starts it a fraction of a second apart, by hand, and nobody double-checks the number afterwards. Phone swim timing fixes both. Every phone agrees on the time before the race, and a second phone on every lane checks the first.
A synchronised stopwatch app for every lane
Open the link, pick a lane, and that phone becomes the timer for that lane. Because every phone has already synced its clock with the server, every lane's stopwatch starts on the exact same instant when the starter taps GO.
- Works on any phone's own browser
- Every lane on the same synced clock
- No login, no download, scan and go
Started the instant GO was tapped, on every lane together.
Two phones per lane, so one slow tap never becomes the result
A single stopwatch has no way to catch a slow or early tap. With two phones timing the same lane, EasyMeet quietly averages taps that agree, and hands the decision to a person when they don't.
- Taps within 0.30s are auto-averaged
- Further apart, the lane is flagged for a human call
- One tap only still gives you a time
Only 0.23s apart, so EasyMeet takes the middle: 32.99s.
If only one timer taps a lane, that single tap simply stands as the time.
How timing races on phones works.
Join the lane
Scan a QR code or open a link in your phone's browser, then pick your lane.
Phones sync up
Every phone checks its clock against the server before the race, and again every 20 seconds.
GO starts every lane
The starter taps once. Every phone's stopwatch starts on the same instant.
Tap FINISH, done
Your time is worked out and sent the instant you tap. Two phones per lane keep it honest.
The instant a finger touches FINISH, the phone works out the swim time for itself, using its own synced clock, and locks that number in. Think of it like snapping a photo of a stopwatch: whatever happens next can't change what the photo shows.
One safety check: if the heat was recalled and restarted before a saved tap got through, the server refuses it and the timer is asked to tap again, so an old time can never land on a new race. A phone that missed GO entirely can still hand-time the swim with its own start/stop stopwatch, marked as a manual time.
Your tap is the time, whatever the wifi does next.
The moment a timer's finger touches FINISH, their phone works out the swim time right there and freezes it, like snapping a photo of a stopwatch. A slow connection afterwards cannot change the number; it just keeps trying to send it.
- A re-tap updates your own time, it never adds a second one
- An unsent tap is saved on the phone and keeps retrying until it gets through
- A banner warns the room if a connection looks shaky
Hand timing, done properly.
Phone swim timing is still hand timing: a person taps FINISH when a swimmer touches. What changes is the start (synced, not hand-waved) and the check (two phones, not one). Your first meet is free on any plan, with every feature and no card needed. It suits club nights, time trials and carnivals, not sanctioned qualifying meets.
Phone timing questions
Can you really time swimming races on phones?
Yes. Every timer's phone becomes a synchronised stopwatch: it syncs its clock with the server, starts the instant the starter taps GO, and locks in a finish time the instant the timer taps FINISH. No separate stopwatch or touchpad is needed.
Is there a swim stopwatch app to install for multiple lanes?
There's nothing to install. Each lane's timer opens a link or scans a QR code and it runs in their phone's own browser. As many lanes as your meet has, each with its own synced stopwatch.
What makes it a synchronised stopwatch app rather than separate stopwatches?
Every phone agrees on the time before the race, so when the starter taps GO, every lane's stopwatch starts on the same instant instead of being hand-started one after another. That's the difference between separate stopwatches and one synchronised system.
What if one timer's phone drops a tap or loses signal?
Two phones time every lane. If one tap is missed or a phone drops out, the other timer's time still stands, and a banner warns everyone if a connection looks shaky. A lane with only one tap simply uses that tap.
How accurate is phone swim timing?
Measured in our own tests: 240 clock checks over 4G, worst case about 0.022 s (0.009 s on home internet). That is the system's own clock error. The finish itself is still judged by a person tapping, so this is proper hand timing: consistent, defensible, and far more reliable than a single stopwatch and a paper card.
Do swimmers' or timers' phones need an app installed?
No. Timers and the starter join by opening a link or scanning a QR code, and it runs in the phone's normal web browser. There's no app to download and no account to create.
Want the hardware comparison? See our portable swim timing system page. Running this every week, not just once? See club night software. For the full spec sheet behind the numbers above, read the timing technology.