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.
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