High Tech Swimmers Raise Money for PVFV

The second annual Peace at Home Open Water Swim went high tech this year. Participants wore radio frequency identification (RFID) tags in their swim caps.

The tags helped officials determine who the winner of each swim was without having to rely on human eyes or even an old-fashioned photo finish.

William Hurst, director of wireless technology networking with IntelliMark IT Business Solutions, which supplied the RFID technology, said it took officials two to four hours last year to tabulate the winners. This year it was a matter of seconds.

The tags were activated when each participant walked through a portal in a tent on the shore, then the computer timed each swimmer out when they walked back through after the race.

Out of the 68 participants, there were 64 good reads on the tags, Hurst said. Glitches were identified and will be corrected for the next test of the technology, which will be for a bicycle race sometime in September.

Companies such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are experimenting with RFID technology as a way to increase efficiency in tracking products.

The swim benefits the Project for Victims of Family Violence Inc. No word yet on how much was raised for the nonprofit.