A Netherlands-based sports technology company, Professional Timing, will provide the official timing, scoring and ranking services for this year’s Rafting World Cup Series at Rapids Camp, Sagana, in Murang’a County.
The company has deployed a team of four engineers who will oversee the competition’s start and finish points, with two officials stationed at each location to ensure accurate and reliable timing throughout the event.
“We are here in Kenya to provide the scoring, timing and rankings for the tournament,” said Martijn Koopman, Software Engineer at Professional Timing. “We use our own in-house hardware, including photocell start and finish systems, to deliver highly accurate timing. The judges also submit their gate penalty scores, which are integrated into the results.”
Professional Timing has also developed a custom iPhone application that enables judges to record penalty points instantly. The information is transmitted in real time, allowing athletes and officials to view results immediately after each run.
“We have developed a custom-made software application for iPhone that the judges use to assign penalty points. We receive all the data live, so when a crew exits the boat at the finish, they can instantly see their time, penalty points and current overall ranking,” Koopman explained.
He added that transparency is one of the company’s core principles.
“We are very transparent with all our data. Everyone can follow the results live on the monitors. It is open, fair and accessible to all the athletes, and that is essentially our assignment here.”
Founded during the COVID-19 pandemic, Professional Timing has since established itself as a trusted timing service provider for international rafting competitions. The company has delivered timing services at major championships in Malaysia, World Cup events, competitions in Austria on two occasions, and the European Cup.
Looking ahead, the company hopes to expand its expertise beyond rafting and provide timing solutions for other paddle sports, including canoeing.
