As she neared the wall in London, Dana Vollmer prepared to face the inevitable. Her swim cap was going to fall off before the end of her race, she thought.
Vollmer had the same problem on February 14 at the Orlando Grand Prix. This time, her cap slipped off her head completely.
“At the Olympics, I had 20 meters, 15 meters left and slowly my cap started coming off,” Vollmer said during an interview with Swimming World TV. “I liked to think of it as a positive that I got this little adrenaline rush because my cap was coming off and I didn’t think that it would happen again.
“So I was almost laughing at the end of this 100 fly as my cap was coming off once again. And it did end up popping all the way off and I did have to go back into the water and swim and find it.”
Despite losing her cap, Vollmer still managed to win the race in a time of 58.91. The time is nearly three seconds slower than Vollmer’s world record time of 55.98, which she swam at the Olympic Games.
Vollmer doesn’t blame her slower time on her lack of a swim cap, though. The 25-year-old recently returned to swimming after taking the fall off.
Traditionally, Vollmer has used a latex cap covered by a silicone cap, she said during the interview with Swimming World TV. She’s not a fan of the domed racing caps, though she and Speedo are working together to find a solution to keep her cap on her head, she said.
Regardless of what happens in the future, Vollmer said repeatedly losing her cap has reminded her of one thing.
“There’s always going to be little things thrown at you during a race that you weren’t expecting, so just learning how to handle them (is important,)” Vollmer said during the interview with Swimming World TV.
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