Wednesday, October 22, 2008

The 'National Institute of Health' published an article in 1989 explaining why breststrokers swim faster if they shave down!

"... In a separate group of swimmers (nine who shaved body hair and nine controls), removing body hair significantly reduced the rate of velocity decay during a prone glide after a maximal underwater leg push-off. It is concluded that removing body hair reduces active drag, thereby decreasing the physiological cost of swimming. [Link]

Who knew that body hair was the "moral" equivalent of "barnacles" on a "boat's hull?"

Image from Wikipedia: Photograph taken by Mark A. Wilson (Department of Geology, The College of Wooster). [A beautiful photo as well.]

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