The FloStopwatch app provides a variety of useful features for timing athletes in cross country, track and road races (see FloStopwatch v1.1.0 released). Most of the features are obvious, but there are also some features that may not be readily apparent.

Audio

A "click" sound is played when pressing the stop, reset, and split buttons. This provides immediate confirmation that the button was pressed. While using FloStopwatch, I usually have my volume at its maximum setting so that I can clearly hear the "click" sound.

Missed start

On a conventional stopwatch, if you miss a start, the normal practice is to start your watch at a convenient time and adjust the times on the fly or afterward. With the FloStopwatch app, if you miss the start:

1. Tap in the running time text field on the Race tab.
2. Enter in the offset in the running time.
3. Press start when the actual time corresponds to the offset you entered.

For example, if you want to start the clock when your friend's watch reads 30 sec, enter in 30 in the text field and tap Start when your friend's watch reads 30 sec. For an offset of 2 min, enter 2:00 or 120. When saving the race, the start time including the offset is saved, so it will appear as if you started the race properly.

Rosters

The FloStopwatch app does not currently have keep a specific roster of athletes on a team. However, it is very easy to create a special race and save it to the race database for this purpose.

1. Settings tab: enter in the number of athletes on the specific roster.
2. Mode tab: enter Roster for the competition name.
3. Race tab: enter in the roster description, for example, Boys Varsity for the section name.
4. Splits tab: enter in the name of all of the athletes.
5. Race tab: press Start and then Reset to insure a unique time stamp for the roster.
6. Splits → Splits Table tab: press Save.

To load the roster in the future, navigate to the Splits → Splits Table tab and press load and select the desired roster.

This same idea can also be applied to setting up templates for races.

Splitting many athletes

Splitting many athletes can be difficult, especially in cross country races where athletes tend to be bunched together and difficult to spot. One of the keys to being able to quickly hit the Split button, is to have the athletes listed in the order they are running. You can reorder the athletes listed on the Splits tab just like any other table in iOS. Press the Edit button and drag a row to reorder the table. You can do this before the race as well as between splits to keep the athletes in order.