Olly Timing: How AI Is Replacing Swimming's Poolside Stopwatch
- Shane Riddle
- 6 hours ago
- 9 min read
Olly Timing is an Australian system that uses high-speed video and artificial intelligence to record swimmers' times automatically. No touchpad, and no parent crouched at the lane end with a stopwatch and clipboard. For decades those were the only two options. It is part of the same wave of AI officiating now reshaping how sport is judged, and a clear example of how AI is reaching swimming from the grassroots up. This guide covers what Olly Timing does today, how it works, and where AI swim timing heads next.
Key Takeaways
AI replaces the stopwatch: Olly Timing uses high-speed video and computer vision to record swimmers' times, removing the need for poolside timekeepers.
It's available now: The system is in regular commercial use across New South Wales and is being rolled out in South Australia in 2026.
Built for grassroots: Olly cites hardware costs roughly 90% below touchpad systems, aiming squarely at clubs and schools rather than only elite venues.
Official, with limits: Times are recognised by Swimming NSW for entry and qualifying, although state-record validation remains restricted.
Frees volunteers and parents: At one NSW championship it removed an estimated 700 timekeeping shifts — about six person-months of effort.
A signal of where sport is heading: World Aquatics now recognises video-based review as a typical backup to touchpads in competition.
Table of Contents
Olly Timing Quick Facts
Founded by Ben Ramsden, with its first commercial launch in February 2024.
More than 40,000 swim times recorded since launch.
Around 700 timekeeping shifts (roughly six person-months) removed at one NSW state championship.
Hardware from approximately AU$5,000–15,000, compared with about AU$4,000 per touchpad.
Four OllyGo Vision systems funded across South Australia in 2026.
Sources: ASTN, Australasian Leisure Management, Swimming SA, Olly Timing.
What Olly Timing Actually Is
Olly Timing is a commercially available timing system. According to the company, it uses high-speed video and proprietary computer vision software to "see" two things, the flash that signals the start of a race, and the moment a swimmer touches the wall at the finish. From those two points, the AI calculates each swimmer's time, lane by lane.
There are two ways it's deployed. At permanent installations such as Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre (SOPAC), a roof-mounted camera watches the finish wall and feeds times to the venue's primary system. For everywhere else, a portable version called OllyGo sets up one or two cameras on tripods at the finish end of the pool which means for a regional club or a school carnival, they can have automatic timing without any fixed infrastructure.
Crucially, it works either way, Olly Timing can operate entirely on its own as the primary timing source, or sit alongside existing touchpads as a backup in place of human timers.
This flexibility is part of why its finding a foothold at the grassroots level rather than only at elite venues.
From a Parent's Frustration to a Working Product
Olly Timing began the way a lot of good ideas do, with someone who had spent too many weekends doing a job by hand. Founder Ben Ramsden, an electrical engineer who spent years in executive roles at Vodafone and Telstra, had watched countless aquatic meets where finishing times depended on rows of parent volunteers with stopwatches. The ASTN case study on the company describes how he became convinced there had to be a more efficient way.
"Volunteer timekeepers recorded results for my kids when they swam." — Ben Ramsden, Olly Timing founder
The technology didn't appear overnight. An early proof of concept was produced in 2021 in collaboration with Sydney University, Swimming Victoria and Hawk-Eye, and the business was shaped through the Australian Sports Technologies Network's pre-accelerator programme before its commercial launch in February 2024. It's a useful reminder that even an "overnight" AI product usually has years of validation behind it.
The Volunteer Timekeeper Problem
Going back to my early childhood I vividly remember the Sunday morning when I was competing at my local swim club and my father always being roped in to volunteering as a time keeper. For the longest time, swimming has been one of the most labour-intensive sports to run. A traditional meet can need three timekeepers per lane, plus runners to collect results, which across a busy carnival, means rostering dozens of people for hours. For clubs and schools, finding those volunteers is a perennial headache, and for the parents pressed into service like my father, it means watching the meet through a stopwatch rather than watching their child swim.
This is the problem Olly Timing is built to solve, and the numbers it cites are concrete. At the 2024 NSW State Championships, Swimming NSW used the system to provide backup timing, eliminating an estimated 700 timekeeping shifts — roughly six person-months of volunteer effort. In South Australia, a new two-year programme is funding four OllyGo Vision systems statewide, which the state body says reduces timekeeping from three people per lane to two operators per system.
For a parent, that's the practical payoff, fewer obligations on meet day, and more time actually spent watching the racing. For a club, it's a sustainability question, fewer roles that are hard to fill, and a lower barrier to putting on a competition at all.
How AI Timing Compares to Touchpads and Timekeepers
No timing method is perfect, and it's worth being clear about the trade-offs. Touchpads remain swimming's "gold standard" for elite and record competition; AI video timing is positioned as an accessible alternative for the much larger grassroots market. Here is how the three approaches compare as outlined on Olly's website:
Touchpads — the recognised gold standard, highly accurate for elite swimmers and preferred for major national and international events. The trade-offs are high cost (around AU$4,000 per pad), significant infrastructure, regular maintenance, and a continuing need for backup timekeepers.
Human timekeepers — cheap to equip (a stopwatch) and simple to understand. The trade-offs are up to three people per lane, accuracy that depends on the individuals, and result queries that are hard to adjudicate.
AI video timing (Olly Timing) — no timekeepers required, consistent recording, video replay to settle disputes, a low footprint, and a capital cost Olly cites as roughly 90% lower than touchpads. The trade-offs are, results take a few seconds rather than being instantaneous, a camera is needed over the finish line, and it is not yet validated for higher-level records.
What Ships Today vs What's Still Emerging
This is a Technology & Sport story, that is still evolving, what you can use right now and what is still on its way:
Ships today: AI computer-vision timing is in regular commercial use across NSW; portable OllyGo systems serve clubs and schools with it running standalone or as a touchpad backup. According to Olly's website, more than 225,000 times have been recorded.
Rolling out now (2026): a statewide rollout across South Australia under a 2026 funding programme, and a new 100-frames-per-second camera, introduced in 2026, that can validate NSW state records at SOPAC by prior appointment.
Early trials: the first northern-hemisphere trials at a US club in 2025, reportedly operated remotely from Melbourne.
Proposed and forward-looking: wider expansion to other Australian states and international markets, and the company's stated ambition to extend the approach beyond swimming.
The international footprint and the move into record-level and overseas competition are genuinely emerging which is promising, but not yet the established norm. Olly does state they are "the world's first AI-powered swimming timing service," While they look to be the first in Australia its not clear this is global.
Where AI Timing Fits Into Swimming's Rulebook
Olly Timing's times are officially recognised for entries and qualifying through Swim Central, at least in the states where it operates in Australia, while validation for higher-level records remains limited with the new Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre (SOPAC) and soon to be South Australian Aquatic and Leisure Centre Adelaide (SAALC) camera now offering a route for state records by appointment. World Aquatics' broader acceptance of video review is a separate but related development that points the same way. If you want to know exactly what counts in your competition, the place to check is your state or national federation, not the technology vendor.
Accuracy, Privacy and Trust
Any "AI watching the pool" headline raises three questions, is the timing accurate, what happens to the footage, and who has access and is accountable for it.
On accuracy, Olly Timing's core safeguard is that every finish is on video. A contested result can be reviewed and adjudicated from the replay rather than argued over, which the company frames as a fairness gain as much as a timing one. The technology ships today and is already in use by Swimming NSW, Swimming Victoria and Swimming SA, alongside a long list of schools. One US coach who trialed it against conventional button timing was direct in his verdict:
"The accuracy is amazing." (Mike Kavanaugh, Senior Head Coach, Life Time Michigan)
Privacy is where a children's event deserves scrutiny, not reassurance. Olly Timing says footage is captured in wide angle without swimmers' personal information, stored locally, and deleted after six months once results queries are resolved, that its use reduces the number of people on pool deck with direct access to swimmers, and that it can operate within a school's existing Safe Sport policy. Those are sensible design choices. They are also the supplier's stated arrangements, and the same page notes the cameras continuously archive all video across that retention window.
Placing my governance hat on, there are two points that need to be understood. First, wide-angle video of identifiable children is still personal information under privacy law, so "without personal information" describes the framing, not the legal status of the data.
Where it is stored, who can reach it, and how deletion is proven are what actually protect a child. Second, under child protection standard I have reviewed, (you will need to research your own states standards) the organisation, school or club, not the supplier, stays the accountable party. In Victoria Australia, Standard 9 expects organisations that bring in third-party services to cover child safety through their procurement policies and contracts.
In practice, not only Olly but any vendor that collects video footage you need to verify the following in writing before an event or contractual agreement:
Where footage is stored, in whose custody, and whether it ever leaves the local device or the country.
Who can view footage, through what authorised process, and how that access is logged.
How and when deletion happens, and how it is evidenced rather than assumed.
What happens to footage during a results dispute, a complaint, or a data breach.
How the arrangement maps to your own Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy, your privacy obligations, and parent or guardian notification.
Confirm these directly for your setting. A supplier that aligns with good practice is a strong start, but the duty to children's privacy stays with the organisation running the event.
Final Thoughts
Olly Timing is a neat illustration of how AI reaches sport, not by replacing the elite touchpad at the Olympics, but by quietly solving an unglamorous problem at the grassroots, who is going to hold the stopwatches this weekend. For parents unlike my father, that means watching the race instead of timing it. For clubs and schools, it means a competition is easier and cheaper to put on. And for the wider sport, it's an early, working example of technology making participation more sustainable.
The international expansion and record-level validation are still being written, and we'll keep monitoring on how it develops. But the direction of travel is clear, the poolside stopwatch like so much in sport, is being handed over to a camera and a clever piece of software and on this, swimmers, parents and volunteers all stand to gain.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Does Olly Timing replace timekeepers completely?
It's designed to. The system can run a meet without poolside timekeepers, either on its own as the primary timing source or as a backup alongside touchpads. You still need officials such as referees and recorders.
Are Olly Timing's results official?
Yes for entries and qualifying times are certified in Swim Central and recognised by Swimming NSW. State-record validation has been restricted, though a new 100fps camera can validate state records at SOPAC by prior appointment. Always confirm what counts with your own federation.
How accurate is it compared with touchpads?
Touchpads remain the recognised gold standard for elite and record swimming. Olly Timing uses high-speed video and computer vision, and its key safeguard is video replay, which lets officials resolve disputed finishes from the recording.
Is it only for elite or city pools?
No. The portable OllyGo version uses cameras on tripods, so clubs, schools and regional venues without fixed installations can use it. It's explicitly aimed at the grassroots market.
What about my child's privacy at a carnival?
The company says footage is recorded in wide angle without personal information, stored locally, deleted after six months, and built to fit School Safe Sport policies. Confirm the specifics with the operator and your school, club or organisation.
Can I use it outside Australia?
It's Australian-developed and used in many Australian States, with early trials in the United States. International availability is still emerging rather than established.
