Why swimmers wear 2 caps

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Editions Quartz. More from Quartz About Quartz. Little did I know, caps play just as crucial a role in your performance as goggles do. Let me explain — for someone with longer hair like myself, a cap's purpose is quite obvious, which is to keep the hair out of your face.

However, for swimmers with buzzed or shorter hair, it might seem a little unnecessary. On the contrary, a cap offers the same benefits to every swimmer, no matter their hairstyle. You see, while a swim cap does help keep a swimmer's hair tucked away, it also stabilizes their goggles and, more importantly, reduces drag, which allows athletes to glide through the water more quickly and easily.

A more efficient glide means cleaner strokes and a faster time. That said, you may notice Olympic swimmers wearing not one but two swimming caps when they race. The reason for this is speed. Get a high quality exercise bike at a fraction of what you'd pay with other brands. Read full article. More content below. Tokyo Games. Emily Weaver. In this article:. Latest Stories. Yahoo Life Shopping.

Yahoo Life. In The Know by Yahoo. Yahoo Life Videos. Even worse than losing a cap is losing googles, because that can be totally disorienting. Moreover, the outer cap is more aerodynamic and creates less of a drag in the water.

The inner cap is often latex. The latex vs. This blog post sums up the worries of many swimmers. Silicone caps technically have less drag, but they can often feel like they are slowly coming off of your head, especially in a long race. Latex tends to stay put.