Why do the swimmers in the Olympic trials wear two caps?

Question

Why do the swimmers in the Olympic trials wear two caps? Being a swimmer, I definitely get the concept and reasoning of wearing a cap, and I wear one every time I practice or swim in a meet, but why do they wear two? Does it decrease drag even more, or what? And is this something I should consider doing to better my times?

Answer 1

Two reasons....

One- it decreases drag b/c the second cap tends to NOT wrinkle over the first cap. notice when they take off the second cap, the first one is typically wrinkled up. The second cap sticks better to the first cap as opposed to just hair.

Two- With two caps on, the swimmer can't feel the water as well. It gives the feeling of floating in air, rather than water...more of a mind game.

You should try it in one race to see if you like it. I wouldn't recommend doing it in practice b/c it can put pressure on your head.

Answer 2

i noticed this too and i asked my swim coach this morning and he said that they put their goggles over the first one and use the second one to hold their goggles in place. i use on too, but i think that it would add even more drag, but i guess not since olympic swimmers do it

Answer 3

I guess all of the above reasons are pretty legit, and once i thought about it, they might wear two just in case one falls off. Then they have a back up and their goggles won't come off too. =]

Answer 4

it helps prevent the hair from getting in the way,

Answer 5

I was asking this same question last night and am in agreement with auapc.  If you take a close look, the first cap they have on is a latex cap with their goggles over it.  Then over the latex cap and goggles, they put on a silicon cap.

It's a well known that silicone caps are faster than latex caps.  

Don't know if it's just me, but if you have ever worn just a silicone cap, they tend to slip off and bunch up before, during, and after a race.  So with that in mind, I think that the latex and silicon cap pairing do bunch of things for you:

1.  Smooths out the cap for less resistance

2.  Keeps the cap from bunching up while swimming

3.  Keeps your goggles on and lowers the resistance on the strap.

I typically compete with my goggle strap under my cap anyway, and hate silicone caps, but I think i'll give it a try in a race or two in the next few weeks.