Abstract

The main question of the project was: Does wearing a swim cap and being taller increase

a swimmers’ swim time? The hypotheses were that people who wear swim caps and people who

are taller, would have an decreased swim time. The hypothesis was tested by getting five

competitive swimmers (in which one swimmer was from a different team from the other 4

swimmers), and then time the swimmers. The swimmers were timed twice per person by two

timers, to average the times. Before each test, swimmers had a 200 IM warmup. Once testing

began, they all started with a track start dive and ran for just a 25 meter. The first test was diving

in with a cap, the second was diving without a cap.

Wearing a swim cap took an average time of 15.43 seconds versus not wearing a swim

cap, which took 17.15 seconds to swim. Also, the taller swimmers had a shorter time: with the

tallest swimmer averaging to 11.7 seconds versus the shortest swimmer averaging to 21.13

seconds.

When wearing a swim cap, it reduces drag which is a type of resistance that holds

someone back and slows them down. The taller someone is, the more they have an advantage of

swimming faster possibly because the body is elongated through the water which pulls a

swimmer through the water faster.

During an experiment, it is really important that all the subjects have standardized

variables meaning that everyone is basically the same which is never possible so things like

eating, product types, and etc could affect the swim experiment. This experiment could help

decrease swimmers’ swim times. Not only is the experiment relevant to swimmers but also

coaches, and any one that is overall interested with swimming and how it works.