Press Release

Wuppertal August 15, 2024

Dodd Technologies Deploys Upgraded Riedel Artist System at Record-Breaking U.S. Swim Trials

Riedel Communications is pleased to announce that its intercom technology was instrumental once again at the U.S. Team Swimming Trials held in Indianapolis. As athletes competed for a place in the 2024 world championship events in France, Dodd Technologies used the upgraded Artist-1024 digital intercom matrix, along with Bolero wireless intercom and SmartPanel interfaces. This state-of-the-art setup ensured seamless coordination of the high-stakes event, delivering flawless broadcast and streaming experiences for fans around the globe.

From June 15-23, as elite swimmers competed at the purpose-built pool at Lucas Oil Stadium, Dodd relied on its Riedel systems — as well as the stadium’s built-in Riedel gear — to ensure flexible, reliable communications. This setup was crucial for managing an in-house show of exceptional sophistication and scale.

Dodd Technologies covered the swim trials four years ago in Omaha using a Riedel intercom system. This summer, with an Artist-1024 in place of its previous Artist-32 systems, the event production company successfully managed communications across a larger team and the larger, more complex setting of Lucas Oil Stadium, which earned the title of world’s largest aquatic arena. The event itself garnered a record number of attendees, drawing 20,689 fans plus a total viewership of more than 285,000.

“Given our experience at past trials, we’ve become accustomed to the flexibility and the speed at which we can deploy Artist and Bolero — and how we can alter the Riedel intercom system to the specific needs of the event as they arise,” said Caleb Cassler, audio engineer at Dodd Technologies. “Integrating the Artist system with the giant system already in place took a matter of minutes, and because we didn’t have to spend time solving technical issues, we could focus on refining the comms system to operate exactly as needed.”

Cassler’s team was able to connect their Artist-1024 to both the in-house Artist/Bolero system and the broadcaster’s OB truck with ease. With the Artist-1024 serving as the backbone of all communications, Dodd Technologies effectively increased the scale and functionality of its intercom system in a smaller footprint. Scale proved essential due to the sheer size of the stadium and the number of people needed on comms across that space to support the event. In addition to providing clear audio despite the densely crowded airspace, Bolero offered the benefit of water resistance, a useful factor for team members working around wet humans all day.

“The RF spectrum in downtown Indy, where the trials were held, is extremely challenging,” added Cassler. “With all the productions, including outside concerts, there are tons of channels — and we were in a stadium! But with Bolero, I didn’t have to worry about my wireless comms at all. It was delightful.”

“It was exciting to participate in the U.S. Swimming Trials once more alongside our excellent partner, Dodd Technologies,” said James Skupien, Regional Sales Manager, North Central U.S., at Riedel Communications. “By upgrading their system to an Artist-1024, they gained the scalability and flexibility to integrate seamlessly with both in-house and external systems, creating a single, accessible solution. Just as important, they are able to design larger and more complex systems, achieving the same high-quality audio clarity and reliability, but with a smaller footprint and less setup time.”