I wondered what distance in the Olympic swimming pool for 0.01 seconds of time would come to. Well, let’s see. Swimmers go at it at about 5 miles per hour. There are 1,600 meters in a mile. So 5 miles/ hour x1,600 m/ mile /(3,600 sec/hour)*0.01 sec = 0.0022 m. That’s 22 mm, or just about one inch. I hope the swimming pool contractor built the pool as a perfect rectangle. One lane that is an inch longer than another, can make the difference between gold and silver!
But never mind the hundredth of a second for swimming. Here’s German cyclist Kristina Vogel edging out James of Great Britain by .. looks like 4 thousands of a second, for the gold. Whoah.
