I for one find caps to be extremely irritating and uncomfortable - I would not nor ever have worn them in competition save one or two relays in which the coach made us wear them (mainly for team identification purposes).
I do have some Russian ancestry (rather minor, but some). Perhaps it's genetic, lol!
Long ago when the Fat Man was thin and my hair was long, I wore a cap. Had to, I was flipping my hair out of my eyes and messing up the rhythm of my breaststroke pull. I only cut my hair twice a year, for the short course and long course championships.
Now I wear it much shorter.
I shave my head AND wear a cap, the combination of which pisses off John Smith greatly.
I do this also and knowing it makes Smith/Mr. Negative/Whatever His Name Is mad makes it even better.
I never wore a cap until this year (except in OW when a cap was required). I finally broke down this year figuring it was a little silly to wear an expensive high-tech suit but nothing on my head.
I've never worn a cap, accept as a youngster and now in OW swimming. I HATE them, they make me overheat. They only time it would be good to me is in cold OW swims.
Wearing caps (as a hygiene thing) in Russian swimming pools, which are mostly indoor pools, is not compulsory. So most people don't wear them. This goes all the way up the food chain from noodlers to elite swimmers.
