Hammer Head Swim Caps: Changing Swimmer Safety on WCCO

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Hammer Head® Swim Caps, the creator of the world's first patented protective swim cap, was recently featured on CBS Minnesota's WCCO Sunday Morning, highlighting an often-overlooked issue in youth and competitive sports: head injuries in aquatic sports. The July 5, 2026 segment explored how this Minnesota company is changing the conversation around swimmer safety. The interview follows more than a decade of work by founder Theresa Finn, who was inspired to act after two children suffered head injuries during swim practice. Her question—'Why do so many sports protect the head, while swimming does not?'—sparked a five-year journey to develop the world's first patented protective swim cap, designed to reduce head impact while maintaining comfort, fit, and hydrodynamic performance.

During the WCCO interview, Finn discussed head injuries across aquatic sports—including competitive swimming, open water swimming, triathlon, water polo, artistic swimming, and diving—and why concussion awareness has transformed many sports while head protection in swimming has remained unchanged. The segment highlighted Hammer Head's vision of making head protection an expected part of aquatic sports, much like bicycle helmets have become for cycling. 'Hammer Head isn't about replacing one swim cap with another,' said Finn. 'It's about changing expectations. We hope to create a future where protecting your brain in the water becomes as natural as wearing a helmet on a bicycle.' The company's patented Honeycomb Impact Technology helps absorb and disperse impact forces while preserving a sleek, competition-ready design. Independent testing showed the cap reduces impact forces to the top of the head by more than 50% compared with traditional swim caps, and testing by Olympian Dr. Gary Hall Sr. found improved speed due to reduced frontal drag.

The company believes awareness is the next step. 'Swimming has advanced tremendously in training, nutrition, goggles, race suits, and technology,' Finn said. 'Now it's time for the conversation about protecting the one thing every athlete only gets once—their brain.' The WCCO feature is part of growing national interest in swimmer head safety, following recent podcast interviews and national parenting publication coverage. Hammer Head Swim Caps is a Minnesota-based company dedicated to advancing head safety through innovative design and education. Founded by parents following separate swimming-related head injuries, the company developed the first patented protective swim cap to help athletes train and compete with greater confidence. For more information, visit https://hammerheadswimcaps.com.