A swimming cap designed specifically for athletes with Afro hair has been approved for swimming competitions – at all levels – after the product was barred from being worn at the Olympics last year.
In 2021, Metro.co.uk exclusively reported that Black-owned SOUL CAP was denied by FINA (swimming’s governing body) from its approval process to become certified to wear for competition swimming.
The caps were barred by FINA on the grounds that to their ‘best knowledge, the athletes competing at the international events never used, neither require to use, caps of such size and configuration’.
The FINA Committee went on to describe the swim caps as unsuitable due to them not ‘following the natural form of the head’.
The decision led to public outcry and the start of a wider conversation about issues of diversity and inclusivity in the world of swimming.
Today, FINA has announced their official approval of the inclusive swimming cap range, as part of their ongoing drive for diversity and accessibility in the sport.
‘This result plays a huge part in our wider mission to improve inclusion in the sport,’ says Toks Ahmed, co-founder of SOUL CAP.
‘We’re so grateful to everyone who showed support and was part of creating this major change. As a new father and someone who didn’t learn to swim growing up, creating access for the next generation feels even more close to home.
‘We’ve seen what community and collective energy can achieve, so we’re hopeful to keep knocking down more of these barriers.’
The lack of appropriate swimwear has historically proved to be a barrier for swimmers from some communities, and even leads to people giving up or avoiding the sport entirely.
Conventional swimming caps and their smaller designs are typically made for swimmers with shorter or thinner hair types, which makes it difficult for swimmers with braids, locs, and Afro hair to find the right fit and protect their hair from the damage caused by water and chlorine.
‘There’s still huge progress to be made for diversity in aquatics. Some of these other barriers include people being priced out of swimming, the lack of swim education in schools, pool closures and cultural stereotypes such as, “Black people don’t swim”,’ SOUL CAP co-founder Michael Chapman tells Metro.co.uk.
Swimming’s problem with discrimination and lack of diversity is well recorded.
According to recent figures from Sport England, 95% of Black adults and 80% of Black children do not go swimming, and one in four Black children leave primary school not knowing how to swim.
The implications of these sobering stats are not simply superficial. Research also shows that the risk of drowning is higher in Black and ethnic minority communities.
So making swimming more inclusive for minority communities is a matter of life and death.
‘This announcement follows a period of review and discussion on cap design between FINA and SOUL CAP over the past year,’ says Brent Nowicki, Executive Director at FINA.
‘Promoting diversity and inclusivity is at the heart of FINA’s work, and it is very important that all aquatic athletes have access to the appropriate swimwear.’
Founded in 2017, inclusive swimwear brand SOUL CAP, has helped more than 120,000 swimmers find a cap that works for them, and has spent the last few years campaigning for greater accessibility in swimming, with an emphasis on swim education and encouraging under-represented communities to learn and compete.
They have also partnered with elite swimmer Alice Dearing who made history as the first Black women to represent Great Britain in swimming at the Olympics.
In the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, SOUL CAP applied for their inclusive swimming cap sizes to be approved for competitive use – an approval that would have affected not only future Olympians, but competitive swimmers at every level.
‘Our hope from the approval is to keep seeing more people of all ages and abilities feeling comfortable and confident in the water,’ adds Michael Chapman, co-founder of SOUL CAP.
‘Whether that leads to competition swimming or casual swims, it’s about having the choice and knowing there’s space for you.’
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