Michael Phelps finishes in remarkable three-way swimming tie

Joseph Schooling pulled off the upset on Friday, defeating Michael Phelps and earning the gold in the 100-meter butterfly. But what was even more remarkable was that Phelps was one of three swimmers to finish in a tie for the silver medal, joining Chad Le Clos of South Africa and Laszlo Cseh of Hungary in second place.

In an era of sports that features super slow motion and camera triangulation used to challenge tennis and volleyball faults, how can there be a tie in a race, let alone a three-way tie?

Unlike most sports, swimming doesn’t use instant replay or a photo finish to determine a winner. Instead it has an electronic timing system with touchpads on the wall of the pool that stop the clock immediately when touched.

It removes the human error of calling a race by eye and let’s the computer determine exactly who touched the wall first. In a race that comes down to millimeters, something as small as the amount of pressure used to touch the pad on the wall can make a difference.


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