Why the Ruling Against Swim Caps for Afro Hair at the Olympics Is a Step Backward for Sports [View all]

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 cofounder 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,” Ahmed 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,” Ahmed continues. “Our cap is the same shape as standard swim caps. It’s just simply larger to accommodate long, voluminous, or textured hair.” (In a statement released on Friday, FINA added that it was “currently reviewing the situation” following widespread backlash.)

The origins of Soul Cap lie in Chapman and Ahmed’s decision to begin taking swimming lessons together as adults in 2017; they had grown up feeling discouraged from participating due to the lack of Black representation within the sport. After encountering a Black woman with Afro hair at their local pool who was struggling with the size of her swim cap, the pair began talking to their moms, sisters, and friends, all of whom had accounts of struggling with the constraints of wearing swimming caps designed for white hair. “The decision is an extension of these cultural barriers,” says Chapman. “It’s another barrier which predominantly impacts Black people and predominantly women with longer or thicker hair.” After launching Soul Cap that same year—describing the brand as “hair care for the volume blessed”—the pair has since shipped more than 30,000 caps and partnered with a number of charitable foundations working to broaden access to aquatic sports. Soul Cap is now worn by competitive Black swimmers the world over.

https://www.vogue.com/article/soul-cap-swim-caps-for-afro-hair-olympics-ruling