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Junior Alex Kalish in the men's 200 yard butterfly. He took first place in the event. Credit: Max Hass

Talk to any member of the Penn men’s swimming team, and chances are he will mention his silky-smooth skin.

In an effort to (literally) shave off as much time as possible at this weekend’s Ivy League Championships, the Quakers are shaving their heads, legs, arms and for some, even more.

“Brad Farris shaves everything,” junior Alex Kalish said. “I usually shave just the tops of my arms and my legs, except for the kneecap. Every time I shave the kneecap I cut myself over and over again.”

In order to savor their final days with hair, several Quakers are currently sporting unique styles (to say the least) before they shave it all off tonight.

Kalish bleached his hair blonde and carved out yin yangs on the top of his head, which he died black.

Several of his teammates opted for overgrown facial hair, while sophomore Brendan McHugh just shaved his three-week-old goatee.

“It was literally the grossest thing I’ve ever seen,” he confessed.

Though body shaving for championships has been commonplace for male swimmers since the 1960s, the physics behind the shaving is often misunderstood outside the sport.

Shaving one’s entire body — from the head all the way down to the feet — reduces drag and consequently yields faster race times. As a swimmer becomes accustomed to practicing with long hair and extra drag throughout the duration of the season, he in turn performs better when the drag is absent.

Not only does the physical lack of hair contribute to success, but shaving to slough off dead skin cells also plays a significant role. Often, swimmers will re-shave each day of the meet, not because a significant amount of hair grows back, but to keep skin smooth and free of dead cells.

The development of new swimsuit technologies also emulates the goal of shaving, which is to feel the water with no interferences.

However, with many of the male swimmers shaving only a few times a year, handling a razor can often be a daunting task.

This year’s most notable victim of a ‘shaving disaster’ was senior Chris Buck, who cut his shin at the Kenyon Invitational in December.

“It was continuously bleeding for hours,” Kalish recalled. “He bled everywhere in our hotel room.”

And though McHugh considers himself “a good shaver,” his first experience was similarly traumatizing.

“When I was 13 I shaved for the first time,” he said. “I cut my wrist and thought I was going to die.”

Now, shaving is “just really annoying and painful.”

But as they say, pain is beauty, and according to sophomore Robert Shilton, “the girls love it.”

While many women shave regularly and take the sensation of smooth legs for granted, male swimmers savor the feeling.

“It’s awesome,” Kalish said. “For two days, you put on clothes and it feels awesome.”

Yet shaving and swimsuits are not the only mechanism that swimmers employ to lower their times at championships.

The team just finished a one-and-a-half to three-week taper, a strategy in which the practice volume is severely reduced and adjusted to fit individual needs and goals.

The taper allows the swimmers added rest with the hope that at championships they will feel more relaxed and comfortable in the water.

Though swimmers often doubt their taper and wonder if they will be fully prepared, the Penn swimmers try to stay optimistic.

“If you start getting negative about it, then it snowballs,” Kalish said. “We try to keep it upbeat. Once you keep that positive mind set going into championships, you’ll have a successful meet.”

With their ample rest and clean-shaved bodies, expect record scores from the Quakers — both in the pool and with the ladies.

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