by Three weeks out of a taper meet, I usually stop cutting my nails. Although, I get made fun of for having long nails as a guy, it’s a small price to pay if it will even make me 1/100 of a second faster.
The idea is with longer nails, it increases the surface area of your hands and will aid in pulling more water. Clearly I am not the only one who has thought of this. When I googled it, I learned that Inge de Brujin is known for putting on fake nails before big competitions.
If you don’t know who she is, she is a four-time Olympic champion and a former world record-holder.
Clearly she believes it helps. If you think it may help you as well try it out for yourself!