by Todd Raubenolt

Created on: May 19, 2009

Unless your version of swimming is floating around in an inter-tube, standing in four feet of water, or kicking about with a kick board, your hair will not stay dry wearing a swim cap. The purpose of the cap has never been about keeping your hair dry. The swim cap is not a glorified shower cap, it is serious competitive swimming gear worn for a higher purpose than keeping your glorious locks dry!

Most swimmers who have any hair wear a swim cap (if not two) during races. These are often quite colorful and usually also have some team or personal message imprinted on them. They are not fashion statements, however, they are worn for a purpose.
The purpose of the cap in competitive swimming is to eliminate drag. Your hair, regardless how short, will create drag in the water. The swim cap compresses your hair and keeps it covered under a tightly fitting piece of rubber or silicone. When covered and compressed properly, the swimmers head becomes extremely smooth and provides less resistance to the water they are swimming through. Besides your hands, your head is the key leading edge of your body as it moves through the water.

When you watch a competitive swimmer put on a cap, the will usually get their hair wet first! Obviously they are not intending on getting out of the water with a dry head of hair. Wetting the hair actually makes the cap easier to put on and adjust. Of course some competitive swimmers take it one step further and shave their head, eliminating the need for a cap entirely.

For non-competitive swimmers, the main purpose of the swim cap is to keep the hair out of your eyes. For those with long hair, this can be a big nuisance when swimming around the pool. You hair doesn't play nice in the water like it does walking around. It tends to float in front of your eyes, in your mouth, anywhere but out of the way. A good swim cap solves that problem for you regardless of the length of your hair. A cap easily contains all the loose hair without the swimmer needing to tie and pin back their hair in a complicated manner.

So don't put on a cap and expect it to magically keep your hair dry as you dive to the bottom of the pool. You may get lucky and end up with only damp hair. What you can be guaranteed of is once you put on the cap you will be more streamlined and efficient in the water and will be assured a hair free field of vision. Save the shower cap for your shower!

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