Indoor Track -- When not to use flash

Many of you probably already know this, but I will pass on the information for others like me who did not know.

I was taking pictures at an indoor track meet in a gym with horrible lighting. I took a picture of the runners right as the gun sounded to start the race. A guy came over to me and asked me not to use flash at the start because the flash affects the starting mechanism. I think he called it a gyro or something like that. Apparently the gyro relies on the flash from the starter's gun to start the timing system. My flash created some confusion. After that I waited until each race was well under way before taking pictures. In fact I turned my camera away from the start so that no one could accuse me of being the guy with the flash that screwed up the competition.

At a large meet. I asked the officials, before the staart of the event, what my limits were. and he pointed out an area that flash was not allowed because of video start/finish. I chose to cover the entire meet without flash. Always introduce yourself to the officials , regardless of the sport.They will respect you as a pro and may let you into areas that others are kept out of.

The same goes for swim meets. No flash when the swimmers are on the starting platform.