MINNEAPOLIS – Hammer Head® — a new U.S.- designed swim cap is set to keep head safety top of mind for hundreds of thousands of aquatic athletes, triathletes and open water swimmers across the country. The first major safety evolution in swim cap design in more than a century, the Hammer Head cap looks and feels like a standard issue silicone swim cap but incorporates both a new, patent pending safety technology and a seamless, wrinkle-free fit for enhanced performance.
Hammer Head features patent pending HIT Honeycomb Impact Technology™ – a layer of honeycomb “pillars” on the inside of the top of the cap designed to help absorb the shock of impact from collisions with pool walls and other swimmers in busy practice pools, meet warmups or in crowded open water swims. TEKFIT™ – Hammer Head’s design also brings two important features: an evolved fit, longer in the sides to protect swimmers’ ears and seamless, wrinkle-free construction to eliminate cap drag and enhance performance.
“Many club swimmers, some coaches and athletes don’t think of swimming as a contact sport,” says David Burns, president Martha Burns Swim Schools, a 20-year veteran swim coach and co-founder of Hammer Head Swim Caps. “But the truth is water sports in general is a top ten sport for head injury and accounts for 30 percent more trips to the hospital ER than hockey, lacrosse and rugby combined. If you’ve ever swam in, or coached at, a busy practice pool, swim meet warm up, synchro or triathlon events you will know what we mean. It’s not a matter of if a swimmer will hit their head, it’s when.”
First conceived four years ago, the Hammer Head has been comprehensively designed, engineered and tested. The result is a dramatic evolution, if not revolution, in swim cap design that adds the first ever impact reduction technology to a cap and re-engineers the fit for greater comfort, ear protection and reduced cap drag.
Hammer Head Swim Cap Features:
- HIT Honeycomb Impact Technology™ – a layer of honeycomb “pillars” located on the inside top of the cap designed to help absorb and dissipate the shock of impacts with pool walls and swimmers
- TEKFIT™ – evolved cut that is more hydrodynamic, eliminating top of cap wrinkles to reduce cap drag in the pool; and to cover swimmers’ ears to help reduce water flowing in the ears that can cause swimmers’ ear infections.
- Premium silicone fabrication – looks and acts like a traditional silicone swim cap
Like all great innovations, Hammer Head started with an aha moment. In 2013, Burns, owner of the Martha Burns network of swim schools was at a swim team practice when two young swimmers – his daughter eight and another 14-year-old athlete – independently hit their heads on the pool wall performing back stroke finishes. David remarked that swimmers should have helmets – and the idea for Hammer Head was born.
Burns is joined at Hammer Head by co-founder Theresa Finn, a sports brand marketing and business development executive with a young competitive swimmer of her own who personally suffered a head injury swimming backstroke. Together Burns and Finn formed Mako International LLC, parent company and manufacturer of Hammer Head swim caps.
“We’ve seen other competitive sports assess the risk of head injuries and design protective head wear to help,” says Finn. “But until now, swimming has lagged behind when it comes to head safety protection. We’re here to raise awareness about head injury the sport and do what we can to help protect aquatic athletes of all ages and skill levels.”
Hammer Head swim caps have already attracted the attention and support of members of the professional swim community including three time Olympian and former world record holder Tom Malchow, who says he’d rather have his kids head a soccer ball, something that is outlawed in youth soccer, than hit the pool wall with their heads.
Manufactured in the U.S. for Mako International LLC, Hammer Head swim caps will be available for purchase starting February, 1, 2018 at www.hammerheadswimcaps.com with swim store availability to follow. Hammer Head Swim Cap MSRP is $34.95 with price break discounts for swim teams, clubs, coaches and organizations purchasing caps at volume.
For more information visit www.hammerheadswimcaps.com or like Hammer Head Swim Caps on Facebook.
About Hammer Head Swim Caps
Hammer Head Swim Caps is a patent-pending and trademarked product of Mako International LLC, co-founded by David Burns, a 20-year expert swim coach and swim school owner, and Theresa Finn, a sports brand marketing and business development executive. The Hammer Head Swim Cap is the first major innovation in swim cap design in more than a century. The cap incorporates new, patent-pending HIT Honeycomb Impact Technology™ – honeycomb “pillars” that absorb the impact of collisions with pool walls and other aquatic athletes. Hammer Head swim caps are also designed to provide a more exact fit on the actual shape of the human head. Caps cover swimmers’ ears, reducing water flow in and out which can cause swimmers’ ear infections and are more hydrodynamic by eliminating top of cap wrinkles, which in turn reduces drag in the pool. Hammer Head is on a mission to prevent head injuries in the pool one cap at a time.
Press release courtesy of Hammer Head Swim Caps.
Can’t wait!!!!
Joehayra Barrot
Juan Barrot
Michael Todd
No chill…
Nathan Tomlinson
Declan Weir
Ironically I just saw another post about Football & the large drop in concussion since the youth organization started putting new protocols in place like “Heads Up”. I mentioned in a comment on that article how I knew swimmers who ended up with minor concussions due to running into the pool after missing their backstroke count from the flags in… Definitely going to check it out…
Susan Bryant-totally want to get one for Taylor! She said no.
No thanks
Smh
This cap should be marketed to swimmers who are blind!
Zoë Toscos Sarah Campbell u guys should probs get this
lets put all the shock your mom money into buying these for the whole team
Zoë Toscos brilliant idea!!!
Sarah Ladd maybe you need this…?
Oh my gosh yes
Jennifer Lyn Hale Munch jonah and Madisyn Elizabeth England need this!!!
Yes, they sure do!!
definitely
Caleb Van Boven Patrick Wigger
Jean-Philippe Dufresne
Good idea for younger swimmers… Or beginners. The more experienced you are; the less you hit your head – generally speaking.
Kenyon Swimming And Diving
Roxy Pangelinan
Matthew Harrop should be compulsory in your lane ?☄️
As someone who got a concussion from hitting their head on the wall (and no i wasnt a beginner), i think this is a great idea to promote safety in the sport!
Darcy Wood read it
More ER trips than hockey, lacrosse and rugby combined??? I doth smell some rather fishy data!! ?
As a trauma nurse who sees the numbers, I was left scratching my head as well…
I would be embarrassed to wear it, but I smashed my head at least three times. Once enough to chip my teeth.
Give me a break.
Bill Youmans Meg Perron Matt Nadel
I don’t think I ever hit my head…is that real?
im trying to remember but i think we had a couple people get concussions from collisions in crazy warm up times? or for kids who cant count backstroke? haha
Ha, I got a serious one senior season in college that put me out for 3 weeks, I got kicked though….this is hilarious
You’ve got to be kidding me. Unless my kids were involved in freestyle starting block aerial trick starts, if that ever becomes a thing, there’s just no way…
Erik Barone guess we need one for Erika after today’s practice ?
Morgan Barnard
HAHAHAHA made for us Cece Williams
Hahahahaha the incident
Bridger Bell
Emma Lawless “great idea for inexperienced swimmers”
I’ll take 2
Nikoline Andersen Josefine Risum
Haahha
What is next? Elbow and knee pads for those who slip in the way to the blocks?
Tom Derbyshire if only this was around in 2014…
Would of been ideal for you…
Erin Tierney Maurer is this what you where talking about?
Yes! Maybe I should invest in One
Simon Smith for Lilja?! ?
Definately
Silicon expensive water helmet@.$34. Backstrokers learn to count stokes from the flags. Like Jane, I don’t buy the seemingly incredible ER trips compared to hockey lacrosse and rugby. What ever happen to spacing in a busy practice. The holes look like they would create more drag. Maybe they can be incorporated in a drag practice with parachutes. It is a novel idea that may have it’s place in the water world. Yet, the cost may prevent use by the masses.
As an emergency/trauma RN, I would love to know where you got those research numbers… are you including ear infections? Jet skis? Boating?
Surfing?
Are you including injuries like heels being sliced open when doing flip turns? Choking on gum during swim practice? Seizures in the water from preexisting conditions? Getting kicked in the stomach/groin during a mass triathlon start? All would be considered “water injuries” that I’ve seen but would not be prevented with a bulky swim cap.
And the sheer number of people involved in water sports also far outweighs that of lacrosse. Comparing apples to oranges…to lump this all together is really deceiving.
Becky for Libby ???
I need this for backstroke..every so often I lose count and bam..the wall.
Pat Robinson Brink, Thomas O’Hare
Anival Rod I’ll buy you one of these to make up for the concussion
Haha concussions were mentioned today on my post with Ashley. It’ll be cheaper and easier if we can get it right, either circle swimming or split the lane ?.
Tom Osmolak ??♂️