SKINS NSW All Schools Guide October 2011

Greg Meagher, CEO & Managing Director

Welcome to the 2011 SKINS NSW All Schools interactive guide. Again at the forefront of innovative presentation techniques, Athletics NSW has rololed out a number of new and technical ways to enjoy the All Schools in 2011.

For the first time in Australian Athletics, Athletics NSW has released smartphone aspplication. Used for the first time at the NSW All Schools, it provides a platform to view news articles, keep up top date with facebook, watch all the videos from the NSW All Schools. Best of all, it provides an awesome way to view results at the venue. No longer will you have to que up at the results notice board, you can find you results as they happen. You can download yopur free app by going to thye apple store and search for Athletics NSW

This guide provides a range of stories, advice and important information relating to the SKISN NSW All Schools- We hope you enjoy the content.

Athletics NSW would like to take this opportunity to thank SKINS Compresion garmebnts for the ongoing support of junior athletics in t6his country. Also to o5ther suppiorters MRK Development and Photos in a Flash.

We hope you enjoy the SKINS NSW All Schools 2011.

Preview

Articles

Start Lists

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Read up on the history of the NSW All Schools, from its early days through to the present day

Something else of interest

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THE BASICSA Guide to Athletics NSW Competitions

The following is a brief guide to how track events operate at the Skins NSW Allschools Championships and all higher levels of competition up to the Olympic Games. This information is general in nature - the rules which this competition is run under is found in the IAAF Handbook, which is available for free download at http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/technical/regulations/index.html

LANE DRAWS

HeatsAthletes are distributed into heats based on the seed times they submit with their entries. The formula that places athletes into heats uses a zig-zag pattern. For example, a race with three heats:

This ensures that heats are as even as possible i.e. if you add up the rank of the seeds, each heat should be approximately equal.The order of the heats (A, B and C) are then randomised to give the order that they will be run in i.e. In general the first heat doesn’t contain the fastest seed time.The lane that each athlete receives is completely random.FinalIn finals, lanes are assigned partly based on times recorded in the heats and partly by random draw. The four priority lanes (lanes 4, 5, 6 and 7) are drawn randomly to the four highest ranked athletes, the outside two lanes (lanes 8 and 9) are drawn randomly to the next two ranked competitors. The remaining two (or three) competitors are drawn randomly for the remaining two (lane 2 and 3) or three lanes (lanes 1, 2 and 3).

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THE START

In races up to and including 400m (including hurdles) athletes must use starting blocks. The starter gives the athletes two commands: ‘On your marks’, at which point athletes settle in their blocks; and ‘set’, where athletes raise their knee off the ground ready to leave the blocks for the start of the race. Athletes must have both hands on the ground and be fully behind the starting line during both commands. When all athletes are steady the starter fires the gun to start the race.In races 800m and up athletes cannot use starting blocks. The starter gives one command: ‘On your marks.’ The athlete cannot have their hands on the ground at this time. When all athletes are steady the starter fires the gun to start the race.FALSE STARTS

If a false start occurs, the starter will name the lane which caused the false start and inform all athletes that there has been a false start and that there is a warning on the entire field. Any athlete who false starts in the next or subsequent starts is disqualified.To prevent athletes from deliberately false starting at the initial start of a race, the starter has the discretion to warn an athlete who deliberately false starts of unsportsmanlike conduct, which can lead to their disqualification if repeated.Occasionally a start will be recalled by the starters; that is due to general unsteadiness of the athletes on their blocks. In such a case no false start is recorded against the field or any athlete in it.THE RACE

In races where athletes must run partly (such as the first bend of the 800m) or wholly within their lanes (100m, 200m, 400m, hurdles and 4x100m relay), athletes can be disqualified if they run outside of their lanes.If an athlete runs outside of their lane on a straight portion of a race (such as in the 100m or in the finishing straight of the 200m or 400m) they will generally only be disqualified if they impeded another competitor.However, when running around bends the situation is entirely different; if an athlete steps out of their lane to the inner side, even for a stride, they are liable for disqualification.What often causes confusion is what is part of the lane. The line on the inside is not part of an athlete’s lane. That is, if an athlete steps on the line inside of their lane they may be disqualified.

Interested?

Does reading about the rules interest you? Want to learn more?

Why not consider being an ANSW

official.If you would like to:- Meet new people- Enhance your

knowledge- Learn new things- Be right in the

action- Give back to

athletics...then officiating is for you.Visit www.nswathletics.org.au or call (02) 9746 1122

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NSW All Schools Guide 2011

THE FINISH

All track events are timed electronically using photo finish, which involves the use of a very high speed camera which is positioned on the leading edge of the finishing line.Electronic times are ‘slower’ but more accurate and precise than hand-timed races due to the fact that humans aren’t as great as measuring phenomena compared to the machines that we can design.Hand timing understates the electronic time due to the reaction time between the timekeeper seeing the smoke from the starter’s gun and pressing the stopwatch, and also due to the subconscious anticipation of when an athlete will cross the finishing line at the end of the race. The conventionally accepted conversions from hand-times to electronic times is to add 0.24 seconds for events up to and including 200m and 0.14 seconds for events up to and including 400m.

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Time is certainly of the essence at a Track meet! Ensuring correct times and places are recorded and processed is essential for results and/or records. Gone are the days when numerous time keepers mulled around the finish line anxiously waiting to click their stopwatches. A much more accurate method of timekeeping is available and widely used. During the NSW All Schools, and all meets conducted by ANSW, a Photo Finish timing system is in use. Stored on a number of hard drives are thousands of pictures of athletes dipping and diving to record a victory or that elusive PB. We all know of the existence of Photo Finish, but how does it work?A photo finish system essentially fills two roles. It provides a still image of the finish, allowing for more accurate judging, as well as providing electronic times for each athlete. A Photo Finish System generally works as follows;The starter’s gun is hooked up to the Photo Finish system through a transducer, which is a cylindrical or pencil like object that measures difference in air pressure. This start signal can be sent to the Photo Finish software either directly by cable, or through a wireless radio signal. When a significant change in pressure is recorded (i.e. as a result of the ‘bang’ of a starter’s pistol), a pulse is sent to the Photo Finish software, in the form of a ‘time of day’.At the finish line, a digital Photo Finish Camera is set up, aligned directly on the leading edge of the finish line. One of the many errors people make when seeing a Photo Finish image, is to ask the question “Where is the finish line”? The simple answer is that the whole picture shown on the screen is the finish line. The Camera takes anywhere between 500-1500 images per second, of the one small portion of the finish line. Thus, a Photo Finish image (such as the one below) is actually thousands and thousands of small pictures, laid side by side (with a horizontal time frame).The software records the time of day of each frame in the picture and displays the difference in time between each frame and the time recorded by the starter’s gun. That is the finishing time. So, the space between the athletes in the picture is not in fact distance, but rather time.You would probably be aware that the finish line on all tracks is white. This gives the picture a white background. Next time you are at the track, look carefully at the finish line, and you will notice black marks (or sometimes tape) on the finish line where each lane line intersects. These show on the image as constant black lines in time, allowing the operator to easily determine what lane each athlete is in.

PHOTO FINISHWe all know of the existence of Photo Finish, but how does it work? Andrew Matthews explains………

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Interested?

Does reading about the rules interest you? Want to learn more?

Why not consider being an ANSW

official.If you would like to:- Meet new people- Enhance your

knowledge- Learn new things- Be right in the

action- Give back to

athletics...then officiating is for you.Visit www.nswathletics.org.au or call (02) 9746 1122

It is a common misconception that the Photo Finish software automatically assigns the time and place for each athlete. This is not the case. The operator must determine the result, which is often referred to as ‘reading’ or ‘judging’. The operator moves a cursor to the torso of the athlete (times are recorded from the first part of the athlete’s torso, which does not include the arms, legs, neck or head). The operator must follow this process for all the athletes in the race, placing a cursor on the leading part of the athlete’s torso to record a time and place for each athlete. This process may take anywhere between 20 seconds to a number of minutes depending on the race and/or skill of the operator.Once the Photo is ‘read’, the operator can send the information to scoreboards or a results program such as Hy-Tek Meet Manager.ANSW is ‘leading the way’ with the Photo Finish technology, with access to the ‘Omega’ system, which is used at the NSW All Schools today, and a portable Finish Lynx system that is used at outer grounds. Furthermore, during the NSW All Schools, ANSW will send photo finish images of every race to the website. So you can log onto www.nswathletics.org.au and

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Date of Birth: 21.11.1983

Discipline: Middle Distance

Occupation: Tradesman

Height: 183cm

Weight: 70kg

State: NSW

Coach: Ken Green

Previous Coaches: N/A

Scholarship: NSWIS

Club: Randwick Botany Harriers

Place of Birth/Residence: Sydney/Sydney,NSW

Marital Status Single

Competition StatsAUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS:1500 metres: 2003 – 8th, 2004 – 7th, 2005 – 3rd, 2006 – 5th, 2009 - 2ndCross-country: 2005 – 5th

INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS:Commonwealth Games: 2006 – 1500m 8th (3.41.50)

ANNUAL PROGRESSION:1500 metres:2003 3.46.022004 3.42.502005 3.41.022006 3.39.582007 3.38.202008 3.39.722009 3.34.39

EVENTS / PERSONAL BESTS:

Athlete Preview- Jeremy Roff

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SKINS NSW All Schools Guide

Athletics NSW would like to thank our the NSW All Schools sponsor……

And other partners…….

QUIZ…….

October 2011