Why do the olympic swimmers swish pool water around in their mouths before a race?

Question

This seems highly unhygienic!

Answer 1

its probably just a ritual type thing they do. swimmers do a lot of weird things before races.

Answer 2

hmm wierd I never knew

Answer 3

i know right, i just noticed that

Answer 4

its unhygenic to swim around in others peoples sweat and grime though i suppose!

we do it for the same reason why we splash ourselevs before starting the race...to get used to the water. it wont be a shock to dive in so much and to some extreme i guess, when you breathe and you first taste the water, youll be used to it.

you dont see swimmers doing this before the start of a race unless its backstroke. if you see it at the start of backstroke or the end of the race, theyre just spitting out the water thats in their mouths from the race...simple as!