Swimming caps designed to protect thick, curly and voluminous hair will not be allowed at this month’s Tokyo Olympics, with the sport’s world governing body on Friday saying that they are unsuitable due to them not “following the natural form of the head.”
British brand Soul Cap sought to have its products officially recognized by FINA, but its application submitted last year was rejected.
The company makes extra-large caps designed for people with a lot of hair.
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 Switzerland-based governing body said that it is reviewing the situation with Soul Cap and similar products while “understanding the importance of inclusivity and representation.”
FINA said in the statement that it is committed to ensuring all aquatics athletes have access to appropriate swimwear for competition as long as such swimwear does not provide a competitive advantage.
“We don’t see this as a set back, but a chance to open up a dialogue to make a bigger difference in aquatics,” Soul Cap cofounders Toks Ahmed-Salawudeen and Michael Chapman wrote on Twitter. “A huge thanks to all who have supported us and our work so far.”
The men founded the company in 2017 after meeting a woman with natural black hair who struggled with her swim cap.
According to the company’s Web site, it has shipped more than 30,000 swim caps to customers worldwide.
“For younger swimmers, feeling included and seeing yourself in a sport at a young age is crucial,” Ahmed-Salawudeen said in an online post.
“There’s only so much grassroots and small brands can do — we need the top to be receptive to positive change,” he wrote.
Alice Dearing, who is to compete in marathon swimming in Tokyo for Great Britain, endorses the company’s caps.
“People used to tell me my hair was ‘too big’ for the cap — never that the cap was too small for my hair,” she said in a blog post on the company’s Web site.
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