The surprising reason why Olympic divers shower after every dive has been revealed.
Over 10,000 of the most remarkable athletes have gathered in Paris, France for the 2024 Olympics games, which kicked off on Friday (July 26).
And one of the popular events at the sporting games is the men’s and women’s synchronized diving, which kicked off over the weekend.
If you have watched diving at the Olympic games or other events then you would notice that after each plunge, the competitors exit the water and immediately take a shower as they await their scores from the judges.
Others have also been spotted sitting in a hot tub.
As this habit has left viewers raising their eyebrows, health experts have shared that taking a shower after each dive is all about keeping the athletes warm and limber, as they can help prevent muscle cramps and injuries.
Back in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, United States diving coach Jacob Brehmer told CNN: "Divers shower in between dives typically just to keep themselves and their muscles warm."
Brehmer continued: “Usually after a diver does a dive, they will have to wait a good amount of time before their next dive. The air temperature on the pool deck may be a little chilly, so the shower can help keep muscles warm.”
"Diving is such a precise and fast-twitch sport, if the diver gets a little cold and tight, it could really affect their performance," he added.
The coach also revealed that divers stay warm by using tiny towels called chamois. The item is portable and water absorbent, thus allowing them to dry off quickly.
Another benefit to this means that the divers can dry off faster.
“When the divers are flipping through the air, they are grabbing onto their legs and squeezing very tight,” he shared. “If their legs are wet, then there’s a good possibility that … their hands will slip off their legs and they will come out of the dive early – which could result in injury and almost always lower scores.”
Fans have also noticed that swimmers would take a quick sit down in the hot tub after completing their dives.
A few users took to social media to share their reactions, with one person joking: "Found the Olympic sport I could excel in, non-synchronized sitting in a hot tub."
Another penned: "One of my favorite things at the Summer Olympics is that jacuzzi the divers get to hang out in," while a third added: "Love that they give the Olympic divers a little hot tub to hang out in between dives. It’s like they’re aliens from some water-based planet and can’t stay out of it for too long."
The hot tub has similar benefits to showering as the warm water prevents the swimmer's muscles from tensing up.
On day 4 of the Olympic games, Yang Hao and Lian Junjie of the People’s Republic of China won the gold medal in the men's 10m synchronized event.
The Chinese duo posted a score of 490.35 to beat team GB duo Tom Daley and Noah Williams (463.44) who took home silver ahead of Rylan Wiens and Nathan Zsombor-Murray (422.13) who achieved a bronze.
