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| Shaving, shaving, over the boundless...um...pool |
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It’s champs time…time for many questions about adolescents shaving their bodies. These questions are all valid and well received, so I’ll do my best to head most questions off at the pass. It is a proven fact that shaving the arms, legs, back, and pretty much any part of the body exposed to the water, reduces frictional drag, improves streamlining, increases the sensitivity of the nerve endings throughout the body, and heightens the swimmer’s awareness and feel for the water. Great! Why don’t we shave all the time?!? When you shave often, the effect of that new feel of the water is lessened to a degree that your nerve endings adapt to that shaved feeling and it doesn’t really make as much of a difference. It would be like wearing a Fastskin suit for every race and every practice…wearing a Fastskin would be the norm and wouldn’t feel very fast anymore. Female swimmers, who are old enough to shave their legs, should talk to their coaches before shaving. The coaches may wish to give direction as to the frequency or the time of the shave to coincide with the training or competition schedule. It is very common for female swimmer to refrain from shaving for months (even through dances, weddings, and summer months…trust me, a little peroxide can go a long way). Male swimmers may be asked to shave their entire bodies including their arms, arm pits, even their heads. Male swimmers should not feel uncomfortable with this practice. The body hair grows back quickly and rare is the occasion that anyone away from swimming even notices. Shaving must be just that…razor and shaving cream. Shaving technology is so ridiculously advanced now that it is actually pretty difficult to do serious damage to your body with the newer razors. Ask some ancient swimmers you know to see their disposable Bic scars some time. Remember that hair removal is just part of it, so don’t just clip with trimmers (boys may want to clip before they shave, to lighten the work load a little). Don’t use Nair or wax, either…you have to expose the nerve endings to get that clean feel, so get close. Fun interview with Michael Phelps and his take on shaving from the US Olympic Committee site: Shaving with Michael Just like anything in swimming…even though there is scientific evidence that says that shaving helps, it will only help as much as you think it does.
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