TikTok star complains new detail is ‘spoiling’ Olympic swimming for viewers

One of the new additions to Channel 7’s swimming broadcast at the Tokyo Olympics has been criticised in a video going viral on TikTok.

A detail some have argued to be throwing off their Olympics swimming viewing experience has been highlighted in a viral TikTok video.

Sydney comedian Tom Cashman drew audiences to the matter in his video on Sunday, accusing the distraction of “spoiling” the final result for viewers.

He took issue with speed times being digitally displayed in each athlete’s lane during a race, complaining about the numbers being too big for how minimally insightful they were.

“I don’t know about you but I find it quite frustrating that the Olympic swimming now has these big numbers next to each swimming to show their speeds,” he told his audience.

Comedian Tom Cashman argues the speed times on the Olympic swimming spoils the end result. Pictured: TikTok/tom.cashman

“I find this frustrating for a few reasons. The first one is, the text is quite large so I find it quite distracting. Secondly, I feel like the numbers rarely differ by very much so it’s not very interesting information.”

He explained how his “big issue” was that the times took the guesswork away from viewers who enjoyed trying to predict who was going to win.

“This is core information about the race, the speed. That’s what the whole point of a race is, to see who the fastest swimmer is, so they’re halfway through the race, telling us the speeds,” he argued.

“We look at the speed, that’s the point of watching a race, to deduce the speed and see the speeds and guess who’s going the fastest and guess who’s going to win.”

Bronte Campbell congratulates her sister Cate Campbell with team mates Meg Harris and Emma Mckeon after the Australian women’s gold medal world record in the 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay. Picture: Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images

He compared the visible times to an elegance percentage flashing across the screen during an athlete’s rhythm gymnastics routine.

Many seemed to agree with Mr Cashman and some even questioned the accuracy of the times displayed.

“The displayed speeds can’t possibly be that accurate,” one wrote, while someone else argued they were pointless given most regular citizens had no concept of how fast something measures in metres per second was.

Others agreed the times didn’t contribute much to the overall viewing experience.

“Totally agree, it is interesting to see, but after the race perhaps. It takes out the suspense of it I feel,” someone said.

Some argued against Mr Cashman’s point, saying the display added to their enjoyment.

“Without the speed it’s vert boring. It all looks the same to the untrained eye, and 99 per cent of the TV audience have an untrained eye,” one person said.

“I like it because it shows if someone increases their speed, even if they’re not in the top three,” another said.