[just another ref]

Originally Posted by Coach Bill

I'm asking are u sure the timer screwed up? He looks up after he starts his count and sees 5.3 (so, maybe ~5.8 when he started), then he counts a little fast (~4.5 seconds), that gives u 1.3. Pretty close to 1.6. The OP never said the clock stopped before his whistle, just that he looked up and saw the clock stopped at 1.6. I don't think there was definite knowledge of any error. I don't think one can accurately mark a running clock to the tenths of a second. And, who knows what the visible count was? 4.9, 5.1, 4.5, 5.5?

If he knows the timer stopped it before his whistle, then ok, fix it. Otherwise, like you said, no atomic clock in his head, the time may have continued to run until he blew his whistle. I.e., no error.

When the OP says that they did indeed put the .3 on the clock, this tells us that his best impression was 5.3 at the start of the count. Consider this, if there is a "normal" discrepancy between the whistle and the stoppage of the clock, there should be even less time left. Lag/reaction time is normal. Stopping the clock early in anticipation of the violation is unacceptable. One can only assume that he checked with the timer to be sure that the clock did stop before the whistle. If the answer is no, as you say, I don't see a lot of alternative but to say "Oh my gosh, my counting is abysmal!" and proceed from there.