Swimmer at the Swim Serpentine event on 18 September

Athletes who participated in an open-air mass sporting event at the weekend had images of their sporting prowess sent to family and friends within seconds, thanks to a space-enabled app.

Participants normally expect to wait days to get their pictures from event organisers, but photographs of people at this year’s Children with Cancer UK Swim Serpentine held on 18 September were sent via an app developed by sports photography company AWOL Adventure.

The app, which was part-funded by the UK Space Agency and ESA, not only speeds up the delivery process using satellite communications but also provides real-time quality control, resulting in better imagery. Uploaded in mere seconds, the images are recognised via Artificial Intelligence and facial recognition, and sent directly to the phones of participants, their families and friends.

The technology can be used at sporting events of all kinds including running, cycling and triathlons. It also has potential to be used for live music and spectator sports events.

Participants at the Swim Serpentine event organised by London Marathon Events uploaded a selfie to AWOL's platform before the event, which generated a personal photo page they could share. As soon as the swim began, images that closely matched the uploaded selfie were sent live to the photo page, from multiple locations including in-the-water shots.