Why Do Divers Use Those Tiny Towels?
They're called chamois, pronounced "shammy," and sometimes spelled Shammie!
And to make it more confusing it was invented by a man named Sammy!
Nobody can agree on the spelling but divers agree that they use them because they need to be dry.
Not just for comfort and staying warm. It is actually good for performance.
Why dry skin matters that much
In a tuck, a diver grabs their own shins and squeezes as hard as they physically can. That grip is the only thing holding the body in a tight ball, and a tighter ball spins faster.
Wet hands on wet skin slips and then the diver smacks. Ouch.
If your hands come off your legs in the middle of a two and a half somersault, the dive is over. You come out early, you have no idea where you are, and you land however you land. Best case it's an ugly score. Worst case you get hurt.
The same thing applies in a pike, where you're gripping behind your knees or around your calves.
So a diver climbs out of the pool, wipes down fast, and does it again before every single dive.
Why not just a normal towel?
Because a normal towel gets worse overtime.
A regular towel absorbs water until it's saturated, then it just moves water around. At a meet or in practice where you need the towel to work for hours, that towel is useless after the second dive and it's not drying out on a humid pool deck.
A chamois is synthetic, holds a genuinely absurd amount of water for its size, and the best part is that when you wring it out and it works again immediately. Squeeze it over a drain and it's basically as good as it was.
It's also small. That sounds trivial until you realize divers leave them sitting on the end of the board or at the top of the platform, dry off at the last second, and drop it before they go.
Try doing that with a bath towel.
Things every diver knows about their shammy
They cost a few dollars. They come in loud colors so you can find yours in a pile of thirty identical ones.
They get gross. A shammy that's lived in a wet bag for a week develops a smell you will not forget.
Other things you're probably wondering
- Why do divers shower after every dive? Same root cause, plus keeping their muscles warm on a cold deck.
- Why is the water being sprayed? Still water looks like glass from up high and you can't tell how far away it is.
- Why are the swimsuits so small? Judging, drag, and grip. Loose fabric works against all three.
- Why do divers have tape all over them? Joint and muscle support. Diving is a lot of repeated impact.
- DG