Olympic swim caps and Bad Engineering

Botch

 
This has been bugging me for years.  
Olympic swim caps are designed badly.  Look at those large ripples along the longitudinal skull line, orthogonal to the direction of travel.  Drag, drag, drag!  If I were that level of swimmer, I would forego the cap, and just shave my head.  Those swimmers spend a long time carefully shaving the rest of their body (shaving their arms makes no sense either, but that's another thread); if you're competing at the Olympic level, shave your damn head! (also, note the gap in his cap between his eyebrow and ear; can you say "drag"?)  
Even worse, when I googled "olympic swim caps" the first page or two just featured "African" style caps, enclosing afros or huge cornrow 'dos, making the head/cap combo have up to twice the frontal area; again, Drag drag drag!!  
I'm enjoying my retirement lifestyle of clipping coupons and watching cat videos all day, but there are a bunch of bad things in life that I should correct as a Consultant.  
Maybe.  

nolaegghead

"Why Do Swimmers Wear Two Caps? There's A Science Behind This Olympics Secret" https://www.bustle.com/articles/177612-why-do-swimmers-wear-two-caps-theres-a-science-behind-this-olympics-secret

Kayak

Are you seeing any of them cover their bodies with bumps from 'cupping'? Wonder if that's out of style this year.

Botch

nolaegghead said:

"Why Do Swimmers Wear Two Caps? There's A Science Behind This Olympics Secret" https://www.bustle.com/articles/177612-why-do-swimmers-wear-two-caps-theres-a-science-behind-this-olympics-secret

That is interesting but still doesn't address the ridges that most caps exhibit; I'm willing to bet a shaved head with an exposed goggle strap presents less drag than two caps do.  

dbCooper

Think this fits the rules?

JohnInCarolina

Pretty sure the ribs are for her pleasure, Botch.  Not yours.

Botch

JohnInCarolina said:

Pretty sure the ribs are for her pleasure, Botch.  Not yours.

F*ck that.  I put them on inside-out for a reason.    

HeavyG

A hundred years ago most folks would think that a "penis" on the bow of your ship would just create unnecessary drag. It does just the opposite, and can increase efficiency by 10-15 percent.

Perhaps those cap ridges despite the counterintuitive first glance actually have an advantageous hydrodynamic effect for some swimming strokes. Probably have no effect on the dog paddle tho.

dmchicago

Kayak said:

Are you seeing any of them cover their bodies with bumps from 'cupping'? Wonder if that's out of style this year.

Saw those on an Aussie swimmer Tuesday night. 

buzzvol

HeavyG said:

A hundred years ago most folks would think that a "penis" on the bow of your ship would just create unnecessary drag. It does just the opposite, and can increase efficiency by 10-15 percent.

TWSS

buzzvol

Per my son, who was a club swimmer from late elementary through high school,, the shaving was more a mental trick.  The girls would not shave their legs for weeks leading up to a big meet, and then shave right before the event.

Botch

buzzvol said:

Per my son, who was a club swimmer from late elementary through high school,, the shaving was more a mental trick.  The girls would not shave their legs for weeks leading up to a big meet, and then shave right before the event.

That's another thing that doesn't make sense to me.  I can see shaving most of your body to reduce drag, but why would you shave your arms?  They are what is pulling you thru the water, and a hairy arm would have more "bite" against the water (the arm is mostly out of the water when moving forward for the next stroke).  

nolaegghead

Botch said:

buzzvol said:

Per my son, who was a club swimmer from late elementary through high school,, the shaving was more a mental trick.  The girls would not shave their legs for weeks leading up to a big meet, and then shave right before the event.

That's another thing that doesn't make sense to me.  I can see shaving most of your body to reduce drag, but why would you shave your arms?  They are what is pulling you thru the water, and a hairy arm would have more "bite" against the water (the arm is mostly out of the water when moving forward for the next stroke).  

Why are boat propellers designed with an objective of minimal drag and cavitation?  They even sharpen the leading edge, hopefully that's not passive-aggressive behavior to beluga whales.....

Just being devil's advocate here.

Gulfcoastguy

No they hate manatees.

fishlessman

Botch

nolaegghead said:
Why are boat propellers designed with an objective of minimal drag and cavitation?  They even sharpen the leading edge, hopefully that's not passive-aggressive behavior to beluga whales.....

Just being devil's advocate here.

Carey I've been puzzling over this all day, and I don't know how/if I can answer it.  Sharpening the leading edge makes sense, as water is an incompressible fluid and the leading edge "cleaves" the fluid, it doesn't "push" it aft like the flat portion of the blade, or the hairy arm....  I dunno!    

HeavyG

Botch said:

nolaegghead said:

"Why Do Swimmers Wear Two Caps? There's A Science Behind This Olympics Secret" https://www.bustle.com/articles/177612-why-do-swimmers-wear-two-caps-theres-a-science-behind-this-olympics-secret

That is interesting but still doesn't address the ridges that most caps exhibit; I'm willing to bet a shaved head with an exposed goggle strap presents less drag than two caps do.  

Tonite was a good example of why most wear two caps:

I'm pretty sure I would have just drowned in that situation.