In 2016, the Rio Olympics marked the first time that a Black woman had won Gold in a swimming event… 120 years after the Olympics started! Fast forward to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and Alice Dearing became the first Black female swimmer to represent team Great Britain at the Olympic level. 125 years after the Olympics began, the 24 year old from Birmingham, United Kingdom, made history just by making it to the international level.
I like to think I represent black competitive swimmers in the UK who may often feel out of place – as I sometimes did during my early years.
Alice Dearing
Birmingham is a diverse place Dearing recollected, however when she enters the swimming facilities the diversity “gets washed out”. Dearing advocates for more diversity in the sport of swimming through her involvement with the Black Swimming Association, Soul Cap, and bringing awareness to the racial injustices in swimming. Growing up as a Black swimmer, Alice Dearing has experienced racism firsthand. Racist remarks Alice Dearing and her family experienced throughout her career included other parents telling Dearing’s mom, who is white, that they ‘didn’t expect Alice Dearing to look like that’, and another coach referring to Alice Dearing as a ‘Skinny N—-’. This overt racism displays the uncertainty that white people have about the few competitive Black swimmers present in the sport.
Swimming is an exclusive sport, stemming from the segregation laws allowing white people to have exclusive pristine swimming pools, that Black people could not use (Nzindukiyimana & O’Connor, 2019). Years of limited pool access, coupled with other barriers, such as their hair or stereotypes that Black people cannot swim, black participation in swimming is almost invisible. Unlike other sports, swimming is also a life-skill improving water safety, and in England, 95% of Black adults and 80% of Black children do not swim at all. The large number of Black people unable to swim is related to the higher drowning rates observed among Black people, mainly in pool settings (Hastings et al., 2006).
The History of Swimming
While today Black swimmers are few and far between, swimming was not always a ‘white sport’. Historically, African-descended peoples swimming skills exceeded the Westerners (Dawson, 2018b). Africans recognized swimming as a method of cleanliness, a form of exercise and a life skill (Dawson, 2018a). The front crawl stroke, used by Africans, was judged by Europeans as ‘savage’ regardless of the stroke being the fastest, it was disapproving due to the splashing produced (Dawson, 2018a). Africans’ ability to swim was often compared to a marine creature, and every white traveller was amazed by their fluency in the water (Dawson, 2018b). When the slave trade began in the 1600’s, some slaves taught white people to swim, allowing for limited white swimming (Dawson, 2018b). African women were able to use the water for protection from slaveholders and white men making sexual advances (Dawson, 2018b). As the water could be a way for slaves to swim to their freedom, slaveholders discouraged swimming, and many prohibited slaves from learning to swim (Dawson, 2018b).
In the 1900’s, segregation laws restricted Black people from using the same swimming facilities used by white people (Dawson, 2018a). When Black people were able to use the same facilities as white people, they still faced restrictions from joining swimming lessons and were harassed by white protestors when trying to swim at a pool with white people (Dawson, 2018a). Between the 1920s-40s, swimming became popular among the white community and pools, swimming lessons, and private swim clubs developed for white people only (Wiltse, 2014).
In 1935-40, a learn-to-swim campaign offered free swimming lessons at public pools, and millions of white people learned to swim, however, Black people’s opportunity became more confined (Wiltse, 2014). To make swimming more inaccessible, when segregation laws were lifted, the cities closed most of the public pools as only black people using them was more of a financial burden (Wiltse, 2014). With public pools closing, swimming pools became private, requiring memberships that further excluded the Black community (Dawson, 2018a). The law of segregation may have been overturned, but white people were still participating in segregation through private country clubs or memberships that only white people could possess (Dawson, 2018a). Swim teams, and the sport of swimming appeared from private clubs and backyard pools, requiring money to participate (Dawson, 2018a). This discrimination is still observed today, as 0.9% of the swimmers registered with Swim England are Black or mixed.
The exclusivity of swimming is still quite expensive, with swimming lessons costing upwards of $100 for enough swimming lessons for a person to feel comfortable swimming. On top of the swimming lessons, a membership for the swimming facility, goggles, swim caps and bathing suits are all expenses required for swimming lessons to even take place. When thinking about swimming as a sport it gets much more expensive, as prices to join a swim team, compete in events, and competition suits can cost about $1000-$2000 each year. Some parents, such as Missy Franklin’s have spent more than $100,000 on swimming expenses in one year.
As swimming shifted out of the segregation, the sport became more exclusive and when there should have been more opportunities for Black people, they ended up with much less. Alice Dearing is a co-founder of the Black Swimming Association that aims to diversify swimming, and tackle the discrimination that is still present today.
The mission of this non-profit organization is to educate people about water safety and the importance of learning to swim, while also advocating for equality in all aquatic water sports and water safety. Alice Dearing perfectly explains why this association is needed now more than ever.
Black people and ethnic minorities in [swimming] need help and encouragement to get into the water because it has literally been decades of repetitions of lies such as we are too heavy to swim, swimming is not a sport for us – we go into athletics, we go into basketball and football. Just to change black people’s mindset around these issues is a challenge we are looking to tackle. The reason there isn’t a white swimming association is that there doesn’t need to be one in the sense white people haven’t been told over decades and generations that swimming isn’t for them, or they are too heavy to swim
Alice Dearing
The Cost of Hair in Swimming
Alice Dearing is an ambassador for Soul Cap, a Black-owned business that designs extra-large swim caps to specifically protect thick voluminous hair, like dreadlocks, weaves, and Afros. This design helps to remove a barrier that black women previously faced when entering a pool, choosing between swimming and the health of their hair. ‘Normal’ swim caps require adjustments throughout practices and most Black women struggle to keep the caps on their head, and Black olympians understand that swimming will be at the cost of their hair.
Now that I am older I can fully understand why someone would quit over their hair. It sounds ludicrous but it can be really damaging to your self-image and confidence as chlorine wrecks hair.
Alice Dearing
Hair is more than an accessory, hair is also political, and certain hairstyles may prevent someone from getting a job (Norwood, 2018). Long, straight hair was an accepted norm in the 20th century, and in the 60’s and 70’s the Afro became part of the Black Power Movement, and Afro-wearing Black women were confronted, harassed, and arrested by police (Norwood, 2018). Black women constantly code switch by straightening their hair, conforming to beauty standards and altering their behaviour during interviews and in the workplace to conform to the (white) social norms by sacrificing their black culture and experience (Norwood, 2018). In the UK, Black women spend more money on hair products, showing the care they display towards the health of their hair. Swimming pools contain sodium hypochlorite, or better known as bleach, which is damaging to hair, especially Black women’s hair. Afro hair is naturally drier as it has less cell layers so less moisture is retained and the bleach can lead to excess dryness, damaging the hair if it is not washed and conditioned immediately following swimming (Norwood, 2018). Hair is a barrier for many Black women that keeps them from jumping into a swimming pool, as straightened hair was essentially required for jobs, and swim caps did not sufficiently stay on their head, causing wet and subsequently damaged hair. The soul cap allows Black women to swim without the fear of their hair becoming wet or damaged, and their hair comfortably fits in the soul cap.
Alice Dearing has an Afro and uses the soul cap as most swimming caps do not protect her hair from the water. It is no surprise that along with Alice Dearing’s debut in the Tokyo Olympics FINA has banned the use of soul caps for all international swimming events. This reactive decision further confirmed how swimmers of colour are rarely seen at the international level and perpetuates a racist notion that Black athletes do not belong in the water (Evans et al., 2021). FINA’s justification for this ban was that athletes competing at international events never used or required caps of this size or configuration, only confirming the whiteness of the sport and reiterating who is valued and included in the Olympic swimming events (Evans et al., 2021). FINA also justified their ban as the soul cap does not follow the “natural” form of the head, further confirming that they believe that there is a ‘normal’ head shape and that Black women requiring the use of the soul cap must have an ‘abnormal’ head shape. However, due to the backlash the Olympics has received for this racial injustice and ruling to purposefully exclude Black women from swimming, FINA is further reviewing the soul cap and re-evaluating their initial ban.
The Future of Swimming
Alice Dearing is one of the advocates that speaks up about the racism that is present in the sport that she loves. While the racism has not discouraged her, Dearing understands that other Black swimmers may feel as if they have little to no chance of ever living out their own dreams of making it to the Olympics.
To say something like she is an incredible swimmer and then it is even more special because she is black sometimes it’s kind of like – yeah, well black people can swim … the reason I think we need to give relevance to race – like a double-edged sword – we need the representation to be there and be visible so people can get into the sport. I really hope one day it gets to the point where we don’t have to refer to a swimmer’s race if they’re not white.
Alice Dearing
The dream for equality in the world of swimming, can help children to develop not only a love for the sport, but more importantly a life-skill that they can carry with them. This dream does not need to be a future thought, it can happen today! A start to an equal future can be made by the Olympic Committee overturning the soul cap ban that would make a statement of inclusion for Black people into the swimming community. Equality in swimming can also be achieved by developing opportunities for BIPOC people to swim, such as offering free swimming lessons. Supporting organizations like Soul Cap and the Black Swimming Association are easy ways to promote diversity in the sport of swimming. By promoting equality, the discrepancy of drowning rates between races may decline. Anything that a person can do to support inclusion of all people into the swimming community can also help to end the racism in swimming.
References
Dawson, K. (2018a). Parting the waters of bondage: African Americans’ aquatic heritage. International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.25035/ijare.11.01.09
Dawson, K. (2018b). Undercurrents of Power: Aquatic Culture in the african diaspora. University of Pennsylvania Press.
Evans, A. B., Agergaard, S., Campbell, P. I., Hylton, K., & Lenneis, V. (2021). Sport, race and ethnicity in the wake of black lives matter: Introduction to the special issue. European Journal for Sport and Society, 18(3), 187–191. https://doi.org/10.1080/16138171.2021.1966283
Hastings, D. W., Zahran, S., & Cable, S. (2006). Drowning in inequalities. Journal of Black Studies, 36(6), 894–917. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934705283903
Norwood, D. (2018). Conflicted: An autoethnography on researching the Minority Swimming Gap. International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.25035/ijare.11.01.04
Nzindukiyimana, O. & O’Connor, E. (2019). Let’s (not) meet at the pool: A Black Canadian social history of swimming (1900s–1960s). Loisir Et Société / Society and Leisure, 42(1), 137–164. https://doi.org/10.1080/07053436.2019.1582920
Wiltse, J. (2014). The black–white swimming disparity in America. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 38(4), 366–389. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193723513520553
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