The founders of Soul Cap and non-profits Laru Beya, Tankproof, and Empowered Swimming on why the FINA ruling against swim caps for Afro hair must be overturned.
Why the Ruling Against Swim Caps for Afro Hair at the Olympics Is a Step Backwards for Sport
On Wednesday of last week, Michael Chapman and Toks Ahmed, the founders of Soul Cap—a British specialist brand producing swimming caps for Afro hair—received a response to their application to FINA, the water sports world governing body, for their caps to be worn at the upcoming 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. Citing the fact that they do not follow “the natural form of the head” and that no athletes need “caps of such size,” their application was abruptly denied. This news came just over a week after the announcement that British swimmer and co-founder of the Black Swimming Association, Alice Dearing, had qualified to become the first Black female swimmer to compete on Team Great Britain this year, and it served as a global wake-up call on just how much progress there is still to be made for greater inclusivity in the world of aquatic sports.
“Initially we just thought it was an oversight and the application wasn’t properly considered,” Chapman tells Vogue. “We immediately reached out to enquire about the appeals process so we could have a conversation with them and engage in a dialogue to get it approved. The big blow was that, even though they had received and reviewed samples, we were told we weren’t eligible for the appeals process as our application was ‘not considered for approval’.” “We had done a lot of research on the approval process and had thoroughly looked at all the criteria and requirements,” adds Ahmed. “Our cap is the same shape as standard swim caps, it’s just simply larger to accommodate long, voluminous, or textured hair.”
This story originally appeared on: Vogue - Author:Liam Hess
