Progress post George Floyd and BLM, yet swimming caps for Afro hair are ruled out

People may have caught the news this week but it could easily have been missed as unfortunately some of the important news, many that discriminate against minority groups, is missed from mainstream media.

This week, swimming caps for Afro hair were ruled out of the Tokyo Olympics. Huh? I know. Something didn’t seem right when I heard that too. Soul Cap was created to plug a gap in the market, creating a swimming cap for Afro hair and they have sold over 30,000 to customers globally.

Soul Cap partnered with Alice Dearing, the only Black swimmer representing Great Britain. The purpose of partnering with Alice was to break down the barriers that Black and ethnic minority communities face and unfortunately, the exact barriers the International Swimming Federation are putting up. Lack of diversity in sport but swimming in general deepens the divide for ethnic minority communities to take part in sports that don’t allow equality. Statistics from Sport England state ‘95% of Black adults and Black children do not swim in England’.?

Alice Dearing also co-founded the Black Swimming Association which ‘aims to challenge the negative stigmas, narratives and relationships that ethnic minorities have with the water’ , and the BSA is driven to change the statistics mentioned above.?

The International Swimming Federation said ‘the caps did not form the natural form of the head’ which I can’t even fathom as an excuse. Who defines what a ‘natural form of the head’ is? Systemic racism has allowed for supposed ‘norms’ to be created that reinforces the message of exclusion. Inclusion however, is about everyone being able to take part, without excluding specific communities.?

Reading this is saddening and frustrating. So many organisations have made commitments to be more inclusive and create equality for Black and ethnic minority communities in the past year and a half. A ruling such as this is both a step back from these commitments but punishes individuals and businesses such as Soul Cap who have worked hard to create products for people of diverse communities that never existed for them!?

I hope this article raises the awareness of this incident, promotes Soul Cap and also allows people to reflect on their privilege, thinking about the statements below:

• I see myself reflected in the sport of my choice
• I have never had to think about what swimming cap I should use
• I have never had to seek alternative products based on the colour of my skin

Probably some reflections for the International Swimming Foundation, which I unfortunately presume is lacking in diversity, despite being ‘International’.?