I watched some preliminary heats at the men’s swimming world championships recently, and marveled at how close the finishers could be. Laszlo Cseh of Hungary completed the 100-meter butterfly in 50.91 seconds. Tom Shields of the US took second by finishing in 51.09. Less than a second!
photo nl.wikipedia.org
It’s not unusual in some sports (track and field, skiing), but consider the fraction of time involved.
I am the bestselling author of nine novels, including the Swiss Chocolate trilogy and VILLA DEL SOL, which won the 2018 Book Award in Literary Fiction from the Independent Publishers of New England.
My newest series includes the books A JINGLE VALLEY WEDDING, APRIL IN GALWAY, and ALL’S WELL IN JINGLE VALLEY.
Find my books online at Amazon, locally at Stillwater Books (Pawtucket, Rhode Island) and Ink Fish Books (Warren, Rhode Island).
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4 thoughts on “What Can Happen in a Second?”
Yes, fascinating idea that such a small unit of time can make such a difference: for the swimmer’s career or the unfortunate person in the lightning’s path. As for those 6 babies – wow – in the time I’ve taken to type this, that’s about 240 more people in the world!
Martha Reynolds Writes 
Yes, fascinating idea that such a small unit of time can make such a difference: for the swimmer’s career or the unfortunate person in the lightning’s path. As for those 6 babies – wow – in the time I’ve taken to type this, that’s about 240 more people in the world!
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And thousands more!
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Indeed it can – for good, and for not. xxx
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Your life can change in less than a second, for sure. Love thinking about stuff like this. It’s what books are made of.
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