Does anyone else put off swimming because they’ve “just washed their hair”?  I don’t want to swim when I’ve just washed my hair, because that would require immediately repeating the hair washing process and washing too frequently does not lead to healthy, shiny locks!  This week I’m working, so that rules out any early morning pre-hair-wash swims.  I should have swum on Sunday, but I’d “just washed my hair” on Saturday, so that didn’t work.  When I was sticking to head-up breaststroke, it wasn’t so much of an issue.  But now that I’ve progressed to proper ‘head-in-the-water’ breaststroke, it matters.

In my family we have hair vanity.  After all, you wear your hair everyday.  My brother and I grade hair from 0 to 10, where 0 is a very bad hair day.  My hair normally runs from a grade 6 to a grade 8, depending upon where I am in the washing cycle, with day 2 of the cycle being the grade 8 day.  My husband on the other hand, has grade 2/3 hair (see above photo).  It’s great swimming hair as it looks exactly the same after the swim as it did before.  He doesn’t have hair vanity.

Before training began, I always thought that swimming hats were supposed to keep your hair dry.  Perhaps there is special technique that I need to employ when putting the swimming hat on?  Or maybe I need a more expensive hat?  My son is adamant that swimming hats aren’t designed to keep your hair dry, but surely that can’t be right; why else would you wear one?  After my last swim, my hair wasn’t exactly dripping wet but it certainly wasn’t dry.  The trouble is, you don’t know the hat hasn’t done its job until you take it off after the swim, by which time your hair has already slipped from a grade 8 to a grade 2.

Today is a grade 7 day.  Tomorrow I’m hoping for a grade 8.  The following day should be a grade 6 and that will the day for my next swim.