I was interested to read Sherri Petrucci's article about the swimmers shaving body hair to reduce their times, in the Feb. 15 issue, especially Dr. Buskirk's comment that the explanation for the reduction in times is "not psychological."

My own experience in competition as a masters swimmer suggests that she is wrong. Numerous times in shaving for special meets toward the end of the season I would cut as much as 15 seconds off my time for an event like the 200-yard individual medley. That dramatic a drop cannot be counted for merely on the basis of physiology or physics -- psychology must play a role.

There is indeed a tremendous psychological boost one gets from feeling so sleek in the water after shaving. I suspect that one effect is increasing one's stroke cycle because it feels as though one can slice through water much more quickly.