Title: Cap Superstition
General Information about Item:
- Customary Folklore: Superstition
- English
- United States of America
Informant Data:
- Carter Jacobsen was born on January 21st, 1997 in Seattle, Washington. He began swimming at about 6 months and swam summer league for many years. In high school, he began taking swimming more seriously and reached a level of prowess high enough to warrant participation in Dartmouth’s varsity team. He is currently a sophomore at Dartmouth specializing in distance freestyle.
Social/Contextual Data:
- Carter stated that he came up with this tradition and superstition on his own, but has observed many other swimmers doing the same. It is a form of homeopathic magic; the cap that has been in contact with fast swimming in the past will ensure fast swimming in the future
Item:
- If carter swims well once in a swimming cap, he continues to wear the same cap in races. However, if he swims poorly, he won’t wear the cap again in a race, but throw it out.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
Collector’s Name: Robert Purvis
Tags/Keywords:
Swimming, water sports, cap, superstition, tradition