Why do Olympic divers have such tiny towels?

Diving often involves tucks and pikes, where the diver grips their legs. Wet hands and legs can be slippery, so towelling off before a dive is important.

Since Olympic divers sit in a hot tub to keep warm between dives, they’ll towel off and get wet again several times during a competition.

The tiny sports towel (also known as a shammy) absorbs a lot of water and is very easy to wring out afterwards. Some divers also have a ritual of dropping their towel from the diving board into the water to help judge the distance.

Read more about the science of sport:

• Olympics: A psychologist explains why finishing second feels worse than third
• What is the deadliest Olympic sport?
• Olympics: Will we reach a point where sports records can no longer be broken?
• Animal Olympics: 9 species that could smash human world records
• How do horses get to the Olympics?

from... sciencefocus.com