Free practice

1. The list of skaters (Excel file)

In training, FINISH only knows the athletes of the session. An Excel workbook with no races is enough: its first sheet is the list.

The option on row 2 says that the reference is the transponder number. Min. and Max.: each skater's expected lap time (their target). The column headings and the option are the ones the file format recognizes: keep them as they are. The names and transponders come from the sample data (athletes.csv).

2. Set up the session

1. The Training activity

   SessionSession configuration…: Training, Speed skating › Short track (111.12), the venue. The Free session pane appears, with the Generate free sessions automatically box already checked; template: Individual, 40 laps. Confirm.

   FINISH sets automatically: multiple races, automatic loading, automatic closing of inactive races, no color per position. The Schedule tab appears.

2. Open the list

   FileOpen a session… → the workbook.

   The strip reads “Entraînement Bobines Volantes”; the Athletes tab shows the six skaters with their transponder and their min/max (Min / max box). The race list is empty: that is normal.

3. The race flow

   Configuration tab, Race flow pane:

   • Close automatically, if inactive for 20 min, Min lap(s) 2;
   • An unassigned transponder becomes an athlete (for the guest);
   • Default min/max: 8 s and 20 s, action Report (for those who do not have their own).
4. Lapping

   SettingsLapping: Enable lapping, hold time 4 s, Individual, Hold only laps within the athlete's minimum and maximum, lapping line empty (STA).

   The Lapping tab appears after Annotations.

5. One file per lap session

   SettingsFiles and tracks: Generate an Excel file for each finished race.

6. Running

   Decoder ON, Passings ON.

3. During training

1. The first passing

   Thibault Roncière crosses the line at 18:15:02.

   A race “LIBRE_20261013_181502” is created, started at that time; his passing is the start of his first lap (log: “…: start of first lap”). It is displayed in “last lap” mode.

2. The others arrive

   Each known skater joins the training at their first passing (that passing is not a lap), then skates their laps.

3. The guest

   A rented chip “ZD0011A” passes: it belongs to nobody.

   With the unassigned transponder box checked, an athlete “CHIP, ZD0011A” joins the training, with readable colors and the image of a transponder; the log says so. They do laps and lapping like the others, without entering the athlete database.

4. Lapping

   Lapping tab (or a TABLEAU display with a Lapping element): the held lap, very large, in the skater's colors; “Next lap held in 3 s”; the last twelve at the bottom. A lap by Eline De Smedt in 16.4 s (beyond her max of 13 s) is not held.

5. The target

   Each lap outside the skater's min/max is flagged (tile, “Off target” in the lap history). In training, the displays receive the number of laps within the target and the current streak; VOICE can announce the target (voice options set in the Athletes tab).

6. A break

   The group stops for an off-track exercise: Passings OFF. Passings are kept in the database but do not count (and lapping is suspended). Passings ON to resume.

4. The end

1. Automatic closing

   The last skater leaves the track at 19:28. Twenty minutes without any passing received (the computer's clock, not the decoder's), and at least two laps done.

   At 19:48, the training is finished as if by “All finished” and becomes raced. The log reads “Excel file written: …\Entraînement Bobines Volantes_LIBRE_20261013_181502.xlsx”: “Results” sheet (one row per skater, each lap) and “Laps” sheet. Lapping clears (no race left).

2. Find the laps again

   History › Laps, athlete “Roncière”, Valid only: all his laps of the evening. A free practice lap has no discipline: choose “All disciplines”.