Just one month earlier than I used to be attributable to compete in final yr’s Olympics, the most important achievement of my life thus far, I used to be swept up in a world cultural scandal – due to my hair. A swimming cap to accommodate thicker, longer hair, was banned by the Worldwide Swimming Federation (Fina) on the grounds that it didn't comply with “the pure type of the top”.
Within the run-up to the competitors, I had collaborated with Soul Cap and its black-owned, UK-based creators who needed to offer a greater answer for swimmers with hair that doesn’t match a “one dimension suits all” mannequin.
So when Fina claimed that, to its “finest data, the athletes competing on the worldwide occasions by no means used, neither require … caps of such dimension and configuration”, it pissed off me. It despatched the fallacious message to swimmers and the world, telling us that the game can solely accommodate a sure model of your self.
All swimmers with lengthy sufficient hair know the swimming cap routine: making an attempt to get these caps which look impossibly small over our heads; dutifully bowing in the direction of one other particular person, asking for his or her help to stretch it over our hair, muttering thanks when it goes on with out breaking. For some black folks within the swimming group this expertise may be even worse, as “commonplace” caps don't provide the house wanted to suit our hair in.
So I'm relieved and excited to listen to that Fina has now overturned its authentic determination, and authorized the Soul Cap to be used in elite competitors. As a black girl and professional swimmer who loves each having her hair braided and sporting it in its pure, afro type, I do know simply how seismic this transformation shall be.
Having the choice to put on a swim cap that correctly suits provides folks the prospect to really feel assured when going swimming, and reduces the potential for irritating moments within the altering rooms or poolside. Crucially, the caps embrace all hairstyles, from afros, locs, braids and curls to wavy and straight hair as being acceptable hairstyles to swim in, and by implication, they problem a slender view of what a swimmer of any commonplace “ought to” appear like.
Hair generally is a big logistical barrier to coming into the pool for some communities. Managing my hair to have the ability to swim has been a tough and confidence-diminishing a part of my profession. The game calls for a relentless coaching regime the place sacrifices have to be made – and for me, my hair was considered one of them. For black girls, our hair is a big a part of our identification and the way we categorical ourselves. “I'm happy with my hair as I grew it myself,” I typically joke, however in reality, my hair is an necessary approach for me to show character, persona and attraction. We should always shield our proper to put on the hair we had been born with, and be given extra help to take action.
Fina’s authentic disapproval of the cap took away these choices, sending the damaging message that to be knowledgeable swimmer, you needed to make issues work in a sure approach or swimming wouldn’t give you the results you want.
Reinstating the selection of what swimming cap to put on will attain far past the swimming swimming pools of world championships or Olympic Video games. Fina’s determination will ship waves round native golf equipment and swimming lesson programmes throughout the nation, permitting youngsters and adults alike to take their first strokes within the pool feeling comfy, all whereas understanding that the cap they're sporting is revered on the highest degree.
A younger lady from Blackpool who makes use of the cap at her membership’s swimming meet, for instance, shall be ready to take action within the confidence that if she needs to pursue the Olympic dream, her hair and selection of swimwear won't be an element that holds her again.
We can't enable youthful generations to have a look at a sport and assume, for no matter purpose, “that’s not for folks like me”. Sport is a ravishing and highly effective factor, which may be such a optimistic pressure in particular person lives and communities alike. It imparts life abilities, world alternatives and confidence, and affords one thing to pour coronary heart and soul into.
That is what swimming has been for me, which is why I'm so enthusiastic about breaking down these useless boundaries to entry and participation.
It is crucial that we proceed to study from the broader swimming group, and provides swimmers the voice to resolve what's finest for them. Fina’s determination reveals we're able to it.
Alice Dearing is a swimmer who represented Nice Britain on the Tokyo Olympics
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