Race finishes at a touch pad on a floating gantry — swimmer's hand contact registers final time; Photo-finish protocol for close finishes
Why people argue about this
People often assume that touching the gantry pad is optional for finishing a race, which leads to misunderstandings since the official rule clearly states swimmers must touch it to record their time accurately in open water swimming events. Confusion arises because they might not realize the importance of this precise detail in timing and scoring.
