Cherished items can come in many shapes and sizes, they can be a piece of jewellery, a photograph, an heirloom or a ticket to an event you once attended, it can be anything at all but it means the world to the owner and they normally take extra measures to look after that particular item.

As a swimmer your most treasured possessions are your swimsuit, your swimming cap and your swimming goggles. There is no tougher sport than swimming and it requires the utmost dedication, 100% of the time. When you are required to swim train 8,9,10 times per week, your absolute essential items are cap, goggles and cossie (swim costume or trunks).

Early on in a swimmer’s career, training gear can be used for competition but as they become more dedicated and climb the ranks of ‘swimmer’, the training gear is used solely for training and never worn on race day. The swim cap and goggles used for training must be comfortable enough to wear for up to 3 hours at a time without giving a headache and within that session stay in position for anything up to an hour and a half to withstand the toughest training sets.

Swimming caps keep hair from falling in the eyes and they also provide the swimmer with a more streamlined profile. Caps are easy to put on and take off and they also help to protect the hair from chlorine damage.

Outdoor and extreme swimmers often wear caps to provide them with a cover to help limit heat leaving the body which is crucial when swimming in cold temperatures, in some cases the wearer will wear two caps to double the effect.

High performance competing swimmers generally wear two swim caps when racing and between the caps they put on their goggles. Doing this ensures the goggle elastic does not cause any friction in the water nor roll down the head, which can pull the goggles away from the face causing leaks and thus making it difficult to see.

Swimming caps are an essential part of a swimmers kit and can be printed with individual names, club badges, school crests or slogans.