Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011
I get the same question over and over from different people, but have never been completely honest with my answer. Until now.
“Jamie, how come you are so fast in the water, shave your legs during triathlon season, but still rock the beard? What gives.”
While shaved legs and a full beard may seem counterproductive, I promise that there is method to my madness. The truth is that I’ve been a part of top secret hydrodynamics research at MIT that started after Faris Al-Sultan won the Ironman World Championship in 2005. The research specifically focused on the impact of male facial hair on water resistance and swimming speed.
The research set to prove the hypothesis that well groomed face fuzz acts like dimples on a golf ball to reduce drag and create lift, raising the swimmer higher in the water. Over the last few years I have spent countless hours in the pool, attached to highly tuned sensors, analyzed with high speed cameras and trimmed my beard to various lengths and patterns designed to improve hydrodynamic efficiency.
The results of the research have been nothing short of amazing. Because facial hair impacts water as it first crosses the body (with the exception of your arms and hands) whether it is shaven or not impacts drag much more than if your legs are shaved or not.
What was most surprising was that facial hair length (longer than .5cm) didn’t show any statistically significant impact on drag. With facial hair, athletes in the study were able to swim 2-5 seconds faster per 100 meters.
Water flow analysis identified that the vertical growth pattern in facial hair actually directs the flow of water into one clean stream beneath the body rather than disturb it and create turbulence and additional drag. Compared to a clean shaven face, the same water stream would head directly past the eye and ear line and go crashing into the athletes shoulder.
So there you have it. The riddle of the swimmer’s beard is solved by science. The full study will appear in a future issue of the Journal of Athletic Physics in case you want to weed through all the data yourself.
Oh, and it definitely gives you extra style points on the podium. Chicks dig facial hair.
Tags: faris al sultan, hydrodynamics, tyr hurricane | Posted in Swimming | 8 Comments »
