Why Wear a Swim Cap, Swim Hat. The Reasons To Use a Swimming Cap

Wearing a swim cap, swim hat or swimming cap is important for a lot of reasons or even mandatory under some circumstances. This article explains those reasons.

You might think that swim caps are used to keep the hair dry. However, that's not what they are used for. In fact, anybody who has ever used a swim cap can attest that it doesn't keep the hair dry.

In reality a rubber or silicone swim cap is used to protect the hair against the chlorine that's contained in most swimming pools. That's because while it doesn't keep the hair dry, it will keep the exposure to chlorinated pool water to a minimum. That's especially the case if you do wet the hair thoroughly in the shower with clean water before putting on the swim cap.

If you are a girl (or a boy) and have long hair, a swim cap is mandatory as it will keep the hair out of your face. If you engage in competitive swimming, the swim cap will also make you more slippery in the water and improve your times. Certain competitive swimmers do even wear two caps, the second one keeps the swim goggles in place and reduce the drag created by the goggles' straps.

In most swimming pools, wearing a swim cap is mandatory for several reasons. First of all, it is a safety measure as it avoids that swimmers diving of the starting blocks cut themselves on a hair floating at the water surface. Secondly, as hair tends to pick up all sorts of stuff in the air it helps to keep the pool's water clean. Finally, as people loose some hair every day it avoids that it clogs the swimming pool's filters which would cause them to malfunction.

If you do open water swimming in larger bodies of water, it is strongly suggested that you wear a swim cap for several reasons.

First of all, a swim cap will keep your head warm. This must not be underestimated as the temperature in open water is often low and a major part of body heat loss occurs through the head. Secondly, using a brightly colored swim cap will help to increase your visibility. This is important to avoid collisions with boats or surf boards and can also help life guards to spot you if should you get into trouble.